The Writer's Block Royale
by Twilight of Grace
Summary: Deceit, Mistrust, and Death shall reign For one whole month, thirty members of a forum grew to know one another in person, until something terrible happened... Twilight to Dawn Chapter 4 up!
1. Prologue

The beige walls of the hotel pool room seemed to dance as the light reflected wildly from the surface of the active swimming area. A large group of kids played and wrestled in the pool. A group of girls talked and laughed at a table to the side, some wet and wrapped in towels, some dry, having not gotten into the pool. Another group sat in the hot tub, relaxing before the long day they all had planned ahead.

"You're kidding, right?" An average sized boy with slightly darker skin and red trunks said to the person that sat across from him in the hot tub. His arm was around a shorter, girl with dirty-blonde hair in a pink tankini. Near the end of the pool, a girl with thick brown hair named Jen ran up to the edge and jumped in.

"Cannonball!" She screamed as she lept up into the air, curling her legs close to her body.

"Dude, Dave, think about it," a boy across from him said. His light hair was curly, and he was a bit stockier than the first boy. "You don't think it's a little strange we won this vacation thing?"

"Oh, John, you're just being paranoid." the dirty-blonde said.

"Maybe you're right, Caitlin…" John sighed and slunk a bit lower into the hot tub.

"Heads up!" Someone from the pool yelled. A foam football came flying from that direction, hitting David in the back of the head. The ball was heavy with water and knocked David face first into the hot tub. He jumped up quickly, brushing the hot water from his face.

"Who the hell threw that?!" David menaced, pulling himself out of the hot tub, shivering slightly at the sudden change in temperature. John and Caitlin laughed at his antics from their positions in the hot tub.

"It was Alan!" a small Pilipino girl named Pat called, pointing at the boy.

"Way to give me away!" Alan said frantically, looking over at David with fearful eyes. The older boy sighed and clenched his fist around the ball. "It was an accident David! Charles hit my arm when I was in the middle of throwing it!"

"Hey! Don't drag me into this!" Charles said, looking over at Alan.

"Hey, Mindy!" David yelled to another dirty-blonde who was roughly his age, swimming in the deep end with an English boy, Craig, who was only about a year younger than her.

"What?" she asked, breaking away from Craig and swimming towards the edge of the pool. She crossed her arms and nestled them on the tile outside of the swimming area.

"What do you think I should do with Alan? You see what happened?" he asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Yeah, I saw you get owned." Mindy chuckled, then smiled widely. "I say you dunk him in the hot tub."

"Oh, come on, Mindy!" Alan said, walking toward the other side of the pool. "I didn't do it on purpose, David, I swear! You don't need to do anything!"

"Nah, I think I like Mindy's plan more." David smiled as he took off for the pool and jumped into it, going after Alan as he emerged from beneath the water. Some of the people around the pool started laughing, while others just sighed and turned back to their conversations. Alan yelped and jumped out of the pool, retreating behind a table where four girls sat. Amanda, Meg, Kari, and Karina stared at the boys who had interrupted their conversation.

"Make him stop!" Alan whined, hiding behind Karina.

"David, leave the poor kid alone." Amanda crossed her arms, trying to hold back a smile but failing.

"Like I was actually going to do anything," David grumbled, pulling himself free from the water. "You need to learn to take a joke, Alan."

"Shut up!" Alan stuck his tongue out at David from behind Karina. David shrugged and turned around, heading back toward the hot tub to rejoin Caitlin and John.

"You going to cower behind me all day?" Karina glared at Alan. Alan jumped backwards, and ran back towards the pool, jumping into the water. He swam back over towards where Pat, Jun, and Charles still stood in the shallow end. The four girls laughed and resumed their conversation.

The door to the pool opened, and a man in a suit walked in, heading towards the first group of people he could find. Cassie, Ben, and Jolee sat on the long chairs, talking about a story Jolee had recently written while she and Cassie dried themselves out.

"Excuse me sir and madams, are you with the forum group?" the man asked, waiting for someone to respond.

"Yeah, but if you want to know something, go ask David. He's the one in charge." Ben muttered, not even turning to look at the man. The man bowed and started to head off. Pausing he turned back to Ben.

"And who might this David be?" Ben sighed and looked around. Spotting him in the hot tub, he pointed in that direction.

"Over there. He's the one with the brown hair in the hot tub." the man bowed again, then began to walk towards the hot tub. "Ok, where was I?" Ben asked, turning back to Cassie and Jolee.

Mindy hopped out of the pool and walked over towards the hot tub, sliding in slowly as her body adjusted to the sudden heat.

"Hey, Mindy." Caitlin smiled and waved at the newcomer.

"Hey guys." She said, smiling at each of them. "I was getting tired of dodging around the little kids, and Craig said he was going to head up to his room for a bit." Mindy pointed towards Craig who was drying himself off as he started to gather his stuff up. David was about to respond as the man in the suit got close and interrupted the conversation before it could continue.

"Excuse me, David?" he said, his hands behind his back.

"Yeah?" David said, letting go of Caitlin and turning around to face the man.

"Is your group about ready to head out? I just received a call from your travel agency saying your bus would be arriving in half an hour, and to inform you they were going to be here early. When I contacted your room, someone named Mike told me you and some of your group had come here."

"The bus is going to be here in a half hour?!?" David hopped up onto his seat and looked at the man. "I'll let everyone know. We'll be ready." David said, stepping out of the hot tub.

"Alright, I'll leave it up to you then." the man bowed after he spoke.

"Thanks, I'll get everyone out there, you can count on it." David nodded his head. The man nodded back, turning around to leave the pool area. "Everbody!" David yelled, getting everyone's attention.

"What?" Amanda yelled back, looking annoyed.

"The bus is going to be here in half an hour! They bumped our time up! I want everyone to head upstairs, grab all of your things, and meet back up in the lobby." David looked around at everyone as he spoke. "And make sure everyone who isn't in here knows about this too! I know Mike and Zach are still upstairs, and I think Ally, Ryan, Nick, and Anora are getting something to eat. I'm not sure where my brother is, maybe he's talking to someone somewhere. I don't have any clue where Lanna, Haley, Hannuh, or Clarence are either. Jen, have you seen Chase?"

"I think he's still sleeping, the bum." Jen grumbled as much to herself as David.

"Well, anyways, make sure everyone knows and is downstairs when the bus gets here in a half-hour. Alright, get to it everybody!" David clapped his hands together as he finished. Everyone began to file out of the pool, grabbing their things as they headed towards the door.

"Nothing like being in a hurry!" Mindy laughed as she tried to dry off. Caitlin shoved David as she got out of the hot tub.

"You need to get moving too!" she said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, yeah, just wanted to make sure everyone got going." he said, kissing her on the cheek. John brushed by them, waving. They all followed him on their way out, Caitlin and David the last two out of the pool.

The lights in the room, reflected on the walls, slowed and began to look more placid as the thirty different members scurried about their rooms, grabbing everything they had brought with them, wanting to make sure that nothing was left behind.

_Little did they know it, but there would be no coming back._


	2. Chapter 1: Prolonged Silence

"Hurry it up, Joel!" David yelled impatiently, standing outside of the bus. Joel came walking out of the building slowly, just to aggravate his brother. "Just get on the stupid bus…" David sighed, stepping on after his brother and shoving him from behind.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Joel asked as David pushed him.

"If you'd move your ass, there wouldn't be one!" David said coldly, shoving Joel down next to Hannuh in the front seat.

"Mind if I sit here?" Joel asked with a cheesy smile as David moved past him towards the back of the bus.

"Sure thing." Hannuh smiled warmly and moved her stuff to the ground. Joel stood up and threw his bag into the overhead compartment of the charter bus, returning with a black single subject notebook in his hand.

"Hey, Hannuh, I'm stuck on this one part of a song. I can't get the stupid thing to rhyme. Think you can help me out?"

"Of course!" Hannuh leaned over enthusiastically as Joel opened up his notebook to where the song was and started showing her his problem.

"Is everyone here?" A middle-aged woman who was standing next to the bus driver called over the loudspeaker. She had a huge fake smile, her dress resembling that of a flight attendant, only pink in color, and even more taken care of.

"Roll call!" David yelled as he stood from his seat on the back of the bus. Everyone groaned as he fumbled around in his pocket for a piece of paper. "It's not going to kill you guys, so let's get it over with," he unfolded the piece of paper which had everyone's names on it.

"Alan!"

"Here!" The boy called, raising his hand to make sure David saw him. He sat next to Jun, the two younger kids having become good friends over the past month.

"Ally!"

"Ninja's here!" Ally giggled. David sighed, then smiled and continued on.

"Amanda!"

"Cool Arrow!" she turned and smiled at David after she spoke.

"You ass…" David threw a glare at her before continuing on. "Anora!"

"Presents!" she called. Ryan chuckled next to her.

"Ben!"

"You know I'm here." Ben mumbled, sitting in front of David, next to John.

"I know Cait's here." David smiled down at her after he said it. Caitlin smiled back before David went on. "Shrimp!"

"Uranhhhh!" Cassie moaned as she glared back at him. David chuckled to himself before continuing on.

"Charles!"

"Right here!" the boy yelled from his seat near the front. He sat next to Pat who smiled at him as he kneeled on the back of his seat to get David's attention.

"Clarence!"

"Over here!" Clarence answered from her seat. She sat alone in the seat across from Pat so she could talk to her.

"Craig!"

"Here!" Craig yelled back, not moving from his spot, turning his headphones back on after hearing his name.

"Haley!"

"Here!" she called back, looking over her seat towards the back of the bus.

"Hannuh!"

"Huh? Oh, here!" Hannuh muttered, breaking her eyes away from Joel's notebook as they worked on finishing up the song.

"Jennifer!"

"David, you do know what happens when you use my full name, right?" she said, standing up into the isle. She put up a fist and David smiled nervously, throwing his hands out in front of himself.

"Hey, now, just messing around with you, Jen!" David chuckled nervously, trying to defend himself.

"Well, anyways, Chase is here too. The bum fell asleep again." she said, smacking him on the back of the head.

"Huh? What did I do?" he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh nothing, just you fell asleep and left me with no one to talk to…" she complained, sitting back down.

"Huh? Well, why didn't you wake me up then?" Chase said, blinking.

"What do you think I just did to you, bonehead?" Jen sighed and smacked him across the back of the head again. Frustrated, she put her head in her hand. David chuckled at the two and then went on with the roll call.

"Julio!"

"Right here!" Joel yelled back. He turned back to his notebook almost immediately, him and Hannuh close to a breakthrough on the lyrics.

"John!"

"Not so loud," John laughed as he rubbed his ear.

"Sorry," David chuckled. "Jolee!"

"Over here!" she waved to get David's attention. She sat next to Cassie, both barely taking up half a seat.

_Must be roomy…_ David thought to himself. "Jun!"

"Here!" the young Pilipino called from his seat next to Alan.

"Kari!"

"Meow," Kari said, drawing a laugh from Karina who sat next to her.

"Karina!"

"What?!" she yelled, looking forward.

"Lanna!"

"How much longer this gonna take? I'm bored! Let's get moving!" she replied, arms crossed.

"Chill Lanna, almost done," David said smiling. "Meg!"

"Here," she said, looking forward stoically. Amanda gave her a light push, and Meg smiled warmly.

"Mike!"

"Here," Mike said tentatively, looking up from his Nintendo DS. He and Zach had already started up a game of Tetris, waiting for David to finish.

"Mindy!"

"Right here, bro." Mindy said. She used the term to show how close the two were as friends. They'd started calling one another brother and sister since after they had gotten to know one another. Joel even jokingly referred to Mindy as his sister at times.

"Nick!"

"Whatdya' want?" he yelled, turning his head upside down over the top of his headrest to look at David from his seat next to Ally.

"Li'l Pat!"

"Over here, David!" Pat said from her spot next to Charles.

"Ryan!"

"More Presents!" he chuckled, him and Anora trying to keep from bursting out into laughter.

"Stephanie!"

"Right here, David!" she said, turning around and smiling at him.

"And last but not least, Zach!"

"Yeah…" Zach managed to say, caught up in his game. Mike had already won twice.

"Alright, that's everyone," David sighed, folding up his piece of paper and stuffing it into his back pocket. "We're ready to head out!"

"Wonderful!" the woman with the fake smile said. She turned to the bus driver and patted him on the shoulder. He pulled a lever to close the door, and pressed a button to raise the buss off the ground. Shifting into drive, the bus driver pressed the pedal down gently, the vehicle taking off at a crawl, everyone getting comfortable in their seats.

The bus came to a stop again at the exit of the hotel parking lot. The driver signaled right, the clicking of the turn signal barely audible over the chatter of the thirty passengers. The bus driver smiled as he reached below his seat, flipping a switch and coming up with a gas mask. He put the mask on, and the woman with the fake smile followed suit. The man smiled as the chatter died down and eventually stopped.

_30 members remaining._


	3. Chapter 2: Et tu, Brute?

Jolee's eyes fluttered open to find Cassie lying on top of her, her head in her lap. She found it was difficult to move as she tried to life the small thirteen year old off of her and back onto her own side of the seat. After about a minute, she had Cassie upright again, only to have her fall against the window pane, smacking her head against the glass, a loud thud issuing from the collision. Scared, she grabbed onto Cassie's shoulders and pulled her back up off the glass to see if she was alright. She placed her hand where Cassie's head had hit, and brought it back to find a small amount of blood on her hand.

"Oh, crap! Cassie! Cassie!" Jolee called, shaking Cassie's shoulder. Behind her, a woman cleared her throat. Turning around swiftly, Jolee saw the thin woman who had greeted them when they first arrived on the bus. She now wore a black gas mask that clashed with her pink suit. "You have to help! My friend is bleeding!" Jolee said, a few tears forming at the corners of her eyes. The woman cocked her head to the side, the mask gave her an ominous look, like a tiny humanoid elephant. She reached behind her back, fumbling with something unseen by Jolee.

"Wha…what're you doing?" Jolee said, looking at the woman nervously. The woman stopped, and brought her face close to Jolee's. Jolee scooted back in the seat, not even registering she was now on top of Cassie, tears now falling more freely from her eyes. The woman smiled invisibly and pulled a small can from behind her back. Taking off the lid, she pressed down on the button and a small amount of gas emitted from it, hitting Jolee in the face. Breathing it in, Jolee felt her lungs slow and her eyes dilate as a black veil began to cover her vision. She lost control of her functions and passed out again on top of Cassie, the two lying in an awkward heap.

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Mindy began to wake from her stupor to find her face sideways on a cold metal table and her body placed in a chair. She moved her eyes around without lifting her head, seeing a few of her friends either lying on the floor, at a table similar to her own, or even right next to her. She reached out and touched the person who was closest to her, Caitlin. She sat with her legs spread open and her head hanging over the back of the chair.

"Cait….Cait…" she called gently, trying to wake her. Caitlin's eyes fluttered open and she sat up straight in her chair, wiping her mouth as she looked at Mindy.

"Wha…what is it…" Caitlin said, still groggy.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…" Mindy replied, sitting up and looking around the room, her head feeling as though someone had tried to crack it open like an egg. Cait followed her gaze, inspecting the room before replying.

"Ugh…no shit Sherlock…" The room was closed off and filthy, surrounded by large glass windows that were covered in a thick layer of aged dirt and grime, making them impossible to see through. There were two exits out of the room, but only one was accessible. The blocked door had an upturned metal table in front of it, one of the legs missing. Both exits were guarded by heavy steel doors with a small glass window in the middle of the top half of the portal. Chase moved from his awkward spot on the ground, getting onto his hands and knees.

"Where the hell are we?" he muttered, moving towards Jen and shaking her, trying to get her up. Throughout the room people began to stir, all of the members of the group beginning to come out of their sleep.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Craig said, swaying from side to side as he stood up faster than he should have.

Near the back of the room, a figure sat by himself, his arms wrapped around his legs as he sat on top of a table, ignoring the rest of the people in the room. He stared at the dirty wall, his mind wandering off into space. He was dressed entirely in black, from his black cargo jeans to his black T-shirt. He peeled his gaze away from the wall and scanned over the gaggle of people before him, huffing and returning his gaze to the wall.

The scattered chatter in the room died down as the sound of heavy boots on linoleum started to reach their ears. The sound of multiple people marching in unison grew closer until the remaining good door was thrown open and smashed into the wall behind it full force, cracking one of the large glass windows. Men in camouflage and black boots equipped with assault rifles stormed single file into the room. Once inside, they stopped in place, turning to face the group and raising their weapons at the sound of a whistle.

"What's going on?!" David said as he walked up to one of the men. He grabbed onto the end of one of their weapons, trying to get their attention. The one he grabbed yanked his rifle upward rapidly, freeing his rifle from David's grasp. He brought the butt of the weapon back towards the boy, smashing it into his face and sending him flying backwards, crashing into a metal table before finally coming to a stop. Caitlin rushed to his side, grabbing him up in her arms while the rest of the members merely stood transfixed, unable to move.

"That was always one of your biggest problems. Rushing in before thinking things through. Don't know how many times I warned you something like that would happen one day." A cool male voice spoke from across the other side of the threshold out of the room. Everyone's gaze shifted to the door as the figure walked into the room.

Ben crossed into plain view and walked nonchalantly into the room. His clothing was different, as he now donned camouflage reminiscent of the other soldiers that stood before them. The biggest difference was he wore a beret cocked to the side and carried no assault rifle.

"Ben?" David sounded funny as he spoke through his hand which covered his bleeding and swelling lip.

"I'm sorry, David, my friends bust your lip open? Here," he threw David a handkerchief as he spoke. He looked at the boy then raised his gaze and started to pace back and forth.

"What's going on?!" Nick glared at the male who now stared back at him.

"What's going on, what's going on. You all are like a broken record," Ben scowled. "You want to know what's 'going on'?" he motioned his fingers in quotes. "We're all about to play a game. Or should I say, you're all about to play a game." He emphasized the word you're, pausing before continuing. "Everyone here played freeze tag? Well, same idea, only here, once you've been tagged, you don't get to play anymore. To tag someone in this game, you kill them." Ben's words hung in the air as everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"Yo…you're joking right?" Amanda questioned, the first to break the silence.

"Oh no, I'm deadly serious." Ben smirked as he walked amongst the thirty members that sat before him. "Look at each one of your necks." Everyone's hands in the room shot to their throats and found a tiny piece of metal wrapped around it. It was slim and loose, possessing almost no weight at all. They were skin colored, so no one in their panic had noticed them. "Lovely pieces of jewelry, aren't they?" Ben said, walking back to the front.

"Ben…what have you done?" John said, looking at his friend with a steely glare. Ben stared back, his eyes showing no sign of emotion. He turned and walked to the very front of the room, brushing some dust from a moveable chalkboard. He turned to one of the soldiers and snapped his fingers. The man dug into one of his pockets, producing a piece of chalk. He threw it to Ben, who caught it and turned around to write something on the board.

FR Act

"Does anyone know this law?" Ben asked, turning back to the people in the room. "This law was passed to combat the growing amount of anarchists and internet 'prophets' of the electronic age. It was based off of a similar law developed by the Japanese government, just applied to what we as a nation needed more. Its codename is the Forum Reformation Act. It was designed to keep people like you," Ben waved his hand in a sweeping motion towards the people sitting in the room, "from continuing your destructive and detrimental ways." He paused briefly, but it was long enough for someone to cut in.

"But, you're one of us!" Jun protested, leaping up. Pat grabbed his arm, but he pulled free and glared at Ben.

"I was contacted by the government roughly four months ago and given a choice, aid them or be silenced. They've been keeping tabs on all of the smaller forums, putting them into a lottery for well over a year, waiting until they felt they had enough groups for it to be sufficiently random enough. We were the lucky assholes that got picked. After choosing us, they began to monitor us, seeing who they felt would be the right person to speak to. They decided on yours truly. Oh, and Jun? One more outburst, and you are going to regret it." Ben waved to someone outside of the room as he broke his gaze with the boy. Pat finally succeeded in pulling Jun back to the ground as someone began wheeling in a tall cart with two levels on it. On the top, a fairly large television sat, tethered to the cart with a thick black strap. On the lower level sat a DVD player. The person who wheeled the cart in plugged it into the wall, then handed Ben a remote. Turning the TV and DVD player on, Ben pressed play to begin the movie.

A blonde haired woman with a huge smile appeared on the screen in a tight orange shirt with fake looking combat gear and an overly large hat. "Watch, and no talking," Ben motioned them all to stay quiet, waving his finger.

"Welcome!" the woman on the video said, a huge cheesy smile on her face as she waved, as if she was actually there. "If you are watching this, it means you were the lucky ones chosen to compete in this year's game!" she opened her arms widely in a gesture of welcome that came across as creepy, rather than inviting.

"If you haven't noticed yet, you have fancy new collars!" the woman grabbed at an identical one around her own neck. "We'll come back to these later, but I'll warn you now not to try and take them off! Now, on to the rules of the game. You are going to be in fierce competition with one another." The woman held up her fists in a fake fighting stance and pursed her lips as she spoke, returning to looking giddy afterwards.

"Your goal is to be the last one alive after three days! You can use any means to take care of your friends. There are no rules how you finish one another off! The playing field is the island of Alcatraz, the scary island prison off the coast of California." The woman pretended to shiver when she said the word scary, before jumping up and clapping her hands after the word California.

"The island is 18.86 acres large and we have divided it into 12 danger zones! Every 6 hours, the danger zone will change. If you are near a danger zone, you'd best move away fast! And this brings us back to your collars. Each one of those pretty pieces of jewelry is actually a remote-controlled explosive!" the woman placed her hands against her neck, then imitated a spray of blood coming from her throat by shooting her hands outward and spreading her fingers apart.

"There are three different ways you can set off your collar. If you try and take it off, it will go kaboom! The same if you are thinking about leaving the island. Just remember, no one has ever officially escaped from Alcatraz before! And the final way to set off your cute collars is to linger in a danger zone. Once a danger zone becomes active, anyone in it will have 10 minutes to leave the area before their collar goes off! So don't dilly dally in these places for too long!" Ben paused the movie and the woman froze with her eyes shut tight and a huge smile on her face.

"Now it's my turn to give a few rules." Ben looked out at the dumbstruck teens. "To keep you all moving and the action happening, there is a time limit. After three days, if more than one person is still alive, all of the remaining member's collars will be set off, and no one will win." Ben smiled slightly as he looked at the faces filled with horror that stared back at him.

"So…if I win…I get to go home?" Ally shook nervously, standing by Nick, Anora, and Ryan. They all took a step back from her and looked at her fearfully. She shifted her gaze among the three of them, then focused it back at the ground, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

To the side, Jen sat in a chair, nervously bouncing her knees up and down rapidly, trying to wrap her mind around what was going on. Chase placed his hand on her shoulder gently, trying to comfort her, but only succeeded in making her jump in fright. Jen turned around and looked at him apologetically as he pulled his hand away and smiled weakly.

"Yes, you would be able to go home. Whoever wins is free to do as he or she sees fit. We'll even send you home with a military es—"

"What kind of sick joke is this, Ben?!" Jun yelled, hopping back up again. Pat grabbed at his sleeve, but he was already charging at the man who was now in control of their lives. Ben turned rapidly, throwing a punch at Jun that hit him in the nose and sent him flying back into the wall.

"I said no more outbursts." Ben raised a remote and pressed a button which caused a thin red laser to emit from the end of the remote, shooting out and touching the young Pilipino's neck. A red light began to slowly blink on the collar accompanied by a small beeping noise. The boy's eyes widened as he leapt up and felt the collar, not registering the blood pouring from his nose.

"Alan!" he screamed, running toward the boy. Alan's eyes widened as Jun came close. Alan stuck his hands out in front of himself and pushed Jun away as he came in range, bringing his own arms back close to his body, staring at Jun in fear. Jun bounced to Zach who shoved him off to Haley and Lanna, the two pushed him back towards Pat. The beeping on his neck grew faster rapidly as tears began to fall from his eyes. He clenched tighter to the piece of metal around his neck, his gaze falling on his cousin.

"Patricia!" were the final words that escaped his lips as the beeping ceased and an explosion issued forth from the collar, blowing the tips of his fingers into chunks as a piece of his flesh that resembled the collar was incinerated with the blast. Blood splattered across Pat's face and clothing as she watched the scene in horror.

Jun pawed at his neck with his stumped fingers, blood pouring from his wounds as he desperately tried to take a breath. Falling to the ground, his breathing became deeper and more labored as he continued to cry, staring up at his cousin with pleading eyes, begging her to end his pain, waiting to awaken from this nightmare. His eyes closed slowly as he began to draw fewer breaths. Pat fell to her knees and threw her body over Jun's, scooping him up in her arms, crying into his chest as she felt his life leave him.

"I did warn him," Ben smirked as he turned around to face the television again. Pat looked up at his exposed back, malice in her eyes. She moved her leg into a position where she could leap at the man, but she was quickly tackled by Charles, Karina, and Amanda, all of them pulling her to the ground. She tried to free herself at first, squirming to get out from underneath the three, but she succumbed to them as she realized how futile it would be to attack Ben at this moment. When the three slowly got off of her, she moved back towards Jun, gravitating above his body, holding back a torrent of tears.

_Boy # 19 Jun, Dead._

"Now if you're all ready to finish the video," Ben pressed play again as he spoke to them. The woman unfroze and went back to her happy self.

"The last thing I have to tell you all is about your survival packs!" she said, pulling up a plain, but durable looking backpack. It was a faded tan color, and looked like something you would take for a long hiking trip.

"You will each be getting one of these and it will contain everything you need. Three days worth of food rations and drinking water, a map of the island with a marker that is divided on the paper to show the danger zones, and a randomly assigned weapon!" As she said the word weapon, she pulled out a large handgun, a look of fake surprise on her face. She turned it at the screen and mouthed "Bang" then smiled and put the weapon back into the bag. She smiled once more and then her face grew serious, a stark contrast to how it had been before.

"We will now read your names off," the woman said as two racks of the backpacks she had shown off were wheeled into the room. "As your name is read, come forward and you will be given a backpack and be set loose. Happy Hunting!" a large, sinister smile crossed her face as she spoke. Ben paused the tape again and turned back to the rest of the group.

"One more thing. I want to draw your attention to the boy in the back." Everyone turned to look at the man who scowled at them all and then looked away again. "We'll call him a new forum member," Ben chuckled dryly at his own joke. "Fair warning to you all, he's dangerous." Ben turned back to the TV and unpaused the video, the woman's smile fading away.

"Boy number one, Alan. Codename: Zexion of the Twilight." Alan looked around to everyone, then hopped up and ran towards the door, stopping as a soldier threw him a backpack. He turned back to everyone, nodded, then ran out the door.

"Girl number 2, Ally. Codename: MidnightSuburbia." Ally looked at Anora, Ryan, and Nick, then ran towards the door, not stopping as she caught her bag and continued running through the threshold.

"Girl number 3, Amanda. Codename: Rufus." Amanda held back tears as her name was called. Meg grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I'll find you. Go." Amanda nodded to Meg and walked up to the soldiers, taking her backpack and throwing Ben a hateful glare before walking out the door.

"Girl number 4, Anora. Codename: Anora."

"Find Ally and keep her safe," Ryan hugged Anora close to himself. "I'll find you two, I promise." Anora nodded to him and squeezed him once more before releasing him and running towards the door as her sister had, not stopping as she took off in search of her sibling.

"Girl number 5, Caitlin. Codename: SilentHearts."

"I'll wait for you." Caitlin said as she pressed her lips against David's.

"Be safe," he whispered back, embracing her. She nodded and broke the hug, walking straight towards Ben. He smiled as she brought her hand up swiftly, smacking Ben across the face. He continued to smile as Caitlin walked away, taking her backpack as she got out into the hallway, looking for somewhere to hide as she waited for David.

"Girl number 6, Cassie. Codename: Misty." Cassie walked forward, massaging her head as she grabbed her backpack.

"Don't suppose there's any Advil or bandages in this thing, is there?"

"Not unless you brought some with you," Ben motioned toward a pile of bags at the corner of the room. All of the bags were stacked up on top of one another, thrown down as they'd been brought in.

"We can take our stuff with us?" Cassie responded carefully, not wishing to upset the man.

"Do I look like I'm going to stop you?" Ben scowled at the girl. Cassie didn't say anymore, but instead walked toward the pile and dug around until she found her bag. Putting her own belongings over one shoulder, she walked out of the room, a nervous look on her face.

"Boy number 7, Charles. Codename: SoraX." Charles waved goodbye to everyone, nudging Pat to try and get her attention. When she didn't respond, he sighed and walked toward his bag. Finding it, he threw it over his shoulder and ran toward the door, grabbing his own backpack as he headed out the door.

"Boy number 8, Chase. Codename: Tallian." Chase squeezed Jen's hand and looked down at her.

"Find me," he mouthed and squeezed her hand again. Jen nodded, surprisingly stoic. Chase nodded back and went to get his bag, then headed for the door, taking a backpack and leaving.

"Girl number 9, Clarence. Codename: ChaoticChemical." Clarence snatched up her bag swiftly and ran out the door, not bothering with goodbyes.

"Boy number 10, Craig. Codename: DarkAndroid." Craig stood from his spot slowly, eyeing everyone suspiciously. He walked to his bag, grabbing it and turning towards the front of the room. Looking down he spotted his mp3 player, and grabbed it as an afterthought before heading towards the door, grabbing a backpack on the way out.

"Boy number 11, David. Codename: Twilightsown."

"Guys, me and Cait will wait as long as we can," David whispered to John and Mindy. They both nodded in unison as David made his way to the pile of bags, stopping briefly at his brother's side. "Find me Joel, I'm not going to lose you here…not if we can help it." Joel nodded at him, and the two grasped arms really quick before David moved toward the pile of belongings. Grabbing both his and Caitlin's bags, he headed towards the door, refusing to look at Ben as he walked out and grabbed a backpack.

"Girl number 11, Haley. Codename: TenchiHoshi." Haley nodded to Jen and Lanna before walking toward the pile and grabbing the bag she believed to be hers.

"That's mine," Karina muttered quietly, looking over at the distraught girl.

"Ri…right. Sorry…" Haley said nervously, then found hers and headed towards the exit.

"Girl number 13, Hannuh."

"Find my brother, Hannuh," Joel said to her before she stood up. "I'll meet up with you guys once we're out of here."

"Right." Hannuh nodded. She walked to the pile and grabbed her bag, then headed off for the exit, spitting at Ben's feet as she did.

"Girl number 14, Jen. Codename: Kaira." Jen stood quickly and picked her way through everyone toward the bags. She grabbed hers and walked toward the door, pausing before she exited and turning around.

"Good luck, everyone…" she said, and exited the room.

"Boy number 15, Joel. Codename: Jaysee." Joel stood up and smiled weakly at everyone before heading over and grabbing his bag. He opened it up and checked to see that it was his, pulling out his heavy Xbox and dumping it on the ground with his games.

"Could've used it as a weapon." Ben chuckled, looking at the boy. Joel picked it up and threw it at Ben's feet before walking out of the room and grabbing a backpack of his own.

"Boy number 16, John. Codename: locke&kefka." John stood up solemnly, giving a nod to Mindy and walked toward the bag pile. He found Mindy's first and tossed it to her side. Mindy caught it and wrapped her arms around it, looking at the ground. Finding his own, John put it over his shoulder and walked towards Ben.

"Is this really what you want? Are you getting some sort of sick enjoyment out of this?" John stared inquisitively at Ben, trying to make sense of the bizarre situation.

"Does it matter?" Ben mumbled, masking any form of emotion. John shrugged and sighed, grabbing a backpack as he headed out the door.

"Girl number 17, Jolee. Codename: Rogue." Jolee snapped to attention, looking up from her spot on the ground. She stood up rapidly, grabbed her bag and ran to the door, grabbing a backpack on the way.

"Boy number 18, Jun. Codename: sora0703." A dead silence fell over the room as the members eyes came to rest on the dead boy laying on the floor. Pat clenched her fists at the mention of his name, grabbing up the boy's shirt as she did so. Instead of pausing the video as he had been, Ben allowed the tape to continue playing.

"Girl number 19, Kari. Codename: Eragonishot." The girl hopped up quickly, looking down at Karina who was beside her.

"Go on, I should be pretty close behind you," Karina said, nodding her head. Kari nodded back, then turned and headed for the bag pile. Finding her own, she jogged to the backpack rack and picked out one that looked light, then headed out the door.

"Girl number 20, Karina. Codename: Ireth of Dorthonion." Karina stood up slowly, grabbing her bag that Haley had left sitting apart from the rest of the group. Walking towards the backpack rack, she kicked the dirt at the soldier that handed it to her, the soldier glared at her as she took off at a trot to catch up with Kari.

"Girl number 21, Lanna. Codename: Rikku." Lanna scrambled to her feet, grabbing her bag and heading towards the backpack rack. She slipped on some dirt losing her balance as she was hit in the chest by the backpack the soldier had thrown extra hard. He laughed as Lanna fell backwards, landing on her backside. The other soldiers joined in as Lanna stood up swiftly and ran out of the door, turning slightly red.

"Girl number 22, Meg. Codename: Hissora." Meg grabbed hers and Amanda's bags as she stood up, having moved toward the bags throughout the role call. She made her way to the backpacks, grabbing one and heading out the door.

"Boy number 23, Mike. Codename: Shoku Kitsune."

"Meet you outside." Mike stood, addressing Zach as he did so.

"Yeah…I'll find ya." Mike nodded to Zach, nervously heading toward the pile and grabbing his bag. He waved once more at Zach, then headed out the door, grabbing a backpack on his way out.

"Girl number 24, Mindy. Codename: Rena."

"Fun times…" Mindy stood, shaking her head as she slung her bag across her shoulder, heading towards the backpack rack, pausing for a brief moment. "Which Pandora's Box do I want to open?" A soldier forcefully shoved one into her hands. Recoiling, she glared at the man. "Guess this one." She headed out the door, throwing a weak wave to everyone without turning around.

"Boy number 25, Nick. Codename: Dimetrix."

"Present," he said sarcastically, moving away from his spot on the wall. He bent down and grabbed his bag, then headed toward the door, grabbing a backpack on the way out.

"Girl number 26, Patricia. Codename: HikkiKairi." Pat remained immobile, kneeling over Jun's body.

"Let's go, Pilipino," Ben said, staring at her. She shot him a dark glare, then looked back down at her cousin. She sighed and stood up, still covered in his blood. Staggering to the pile, she grabbed up her bag, wiping away a bit of warm blood from her face.

"Tanga…" she muttered as she walked by Ben, grabbing a backpack and heading out the door.

"Boy number 27, Ryan. Codename: SeekerofOblivion." Ryan stood up and picked his way to the bag pile quickly. Grabbing his and Anora's bags, he headed for the door, receiving a backpack on the way out.

"Boy number 28, Soukon. Codename: Sc4rs" The boy in black slid off his desk, walking straight towards the backpack rack, sneering at the event's curator. He stayed silent as he received his bag and walked out of the door.

"Girl number 29, Stephanie. Codename: Veronique." The girl leapt from her spot and ran to her bag, having already spotted it in the small pile. Picking it up swiftly, she ran towards the door, grabbing a backpack as she sped out of the room.

"Boy number 30, Zach. Codename: RisenPheonix."

"You're on, Zachy-boy." Ben uncrossed his arms as he chuckled softly, staring at Zach as he walked to the bag pile, grabbing his from the few that had been left sitting next to the wall. Zach walked towards the door, looking up at Ben as he passed by. "After you kiddo." Zach sighed at Ben's words as he grabbed a backpack and headed out the door.

"And the games begin." Ben smiled as he walked from the room, the soldiers following him on his way to the control room.


	4. Chapter 3: Crumbling Foundations

Author's note: Well, sorry about the long delay, but it is an EXTENSIVE chapter, coming out to around 19 pages in Microsoft Works, so yeah, it's a ton of material I'm doing the rest of the chapters in this style of sections so that all the characters get face time, and I update sections at a time at the forum where this place is based off of. So if you got some free time and don't mind joining a slowly growing small forum based around writing and role playing, come check us out at:

http://z4. again for reading

* * *

Section 1 – Solo – Alan

Alan paused to take a breath as he leaned against a dirty wall. He breathed deep as he held on tightly to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. He looked back the way he had come, and sighed as no one came into his view. He bent forward, then took in a deep breath as he stood back up.

"Is this really real? Is Jun really gone?" Alan leaned with his back to the wall and slammed his fist against it. After a few moments, the video entered his head again, and he remembered about the backpacks. Pulling the pack off, he opened the top flap and began to dig through his items. He found three bottles of water and a loaf of bread alongside a few other rations of food. His eyes widened as his fingers brushed against a cold metallic item resting at the bottom of his bag.

Pulling his hand free, he found a black handgun. He placed it in his right hand, his index finger coming to rest on the trigger, rubbing it gently. Holding it close to his body, he ran his left index finger along the barrel, admiring the small weapon that seemed to fit his hand size. His concentration was broken as he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the hallway he had just come from. Panicking, he stuffed the food and drinks back into his backpack and ran off, weapon in hand.

Section 2 – Solo – Amanda

Amanda walked slowly down the long corridor she now found herself in, her steps cautious as she moved along. Clutched tight in her hands was an average-sized aluminum baseball bat. The weapon was pristine as though it were brand new and black in color. The words Eastbound ran up the side in bold, red letters.

Her eyes darted side to side as she moved along slowly. She hadn't expected this corridor to be so long. She was hoping to find a good hiding spot with an escape route, but the hallway just seemed to stretch on forever. The sound of her soft footsteps reverberated off of the walls and back toward her, casting an ominous tune that reminded her of a funeral dirge. Ahead of her, she heard scrambled movement, as if someone was trying to get away from her quickly.

"Wh…who's there?" she called gently, but no one responded and the footsteps were gone. Taking another deep breath, she headed out again, looking for anywhere to hide, and wondering if Meg would be able to find her.

Section 3 – Solo – Charles

Charles walked nervously past the line of soldiers that stood at attention staring across the hallway at one another. It seemed none of them even noticed as the young Pilipino boy walked through their ranks. He began to speed up to a jog, finally moving up to running speed and ducking down a hallway as soon as he had a chance. The hallway dead-ended in two plastic double doors that could swing open either way. As he approached the threshold the smell of human feces and mold hit his nostrils, causing him to recoil in disgust.

The doorway opened to a three-tiered room with jail cells lining each side on each tier. The bars were covered in mold and the stench hung so heavily in the air that it seemed as though you could see it.

"What's going on…why us…" Charles sighed, but stopped breathing as soon as he heard someone's steps begin to echo in the hallway behind him. Thinking quickly, he ran towards a flight of stairs, running up to the second tier and ducking down so he could see who was coming in.

Anora burst into the room, looking around as she did. She ran up to a few of the cells and looked into them before running to the next one in the line. She seemed worried and rushed, like she was anxiously searching for something. In her right hand was a rolled up black whip, apparently her weapon.

"Ally!" she screamed, obviously not worried about someone hearing her as she yelled as loud as she could while searching for her sister.

_Well…I do have a good distance between us… _Charles pulled off his backpack cautiously, trying hard not to make any unnecessary noise. Digging through the contents, he found a large pair of sharp scissors. _What the… _frustrated, he grunted unintentionally, drawing Anora's attention.

"Who's there? Is that you Ally?"

"No!" Charles stood up quickly, clutching the scissors behind his back tightly. "I was the first one in here, I haven't seen Ally, Anora."

"Great…Thanks anyways, Charles! Stay safe!" Anora waved and headed back out the door. Charles sighed as he dropped the scissors to his side before falling onto his butt.

_Would I have done something if she was closer? _The idea floated around in his mind as he stared at the scissors beside him. They had thick black handles, and each blade was about the size of a steak knife.

Grabbing the weapon and throwing his backpack back over his shoulder, Charles looked around, scanning the area. His eyes fell on another set of doors that were near him on the same floor. It looked like it could have been a way out of the festering cesspool, so Charles headed towards it, anxious to discover what the rest of the place looked like.

Section 4 – Group – Caitlin, David, John, Mindy, Joel, Hannuh

_Shit…shit…shit… _Caitlin moved along the hallway, her eyes darting from side to side as she looked for somewhere to hide that was close to the room. She spotted a dusty door between two of the soldiers, nearly jumping for joy at the site. Walking over to it, she watched the soldiers to see if they would try and stop her, but they remained immobile as she grabbed onto the doorknob. Twisting it, she found the room unlocked. As she opened the door a large amount of dust rushed out, choking Caitlin, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. She wiped at her face and coughed as she moved inside.

The room looked like it had been a check-in for the prisoners at one point, probably to make sure they didn't get out more than anything. It was surrounded by thick dust-covered windows that were positioned above a desk that stretched across two walls of the room. A few decaying chairs were thrown about the room at odd angles, as if they'd been knocked over and never attended to. Along the walls, large file cabinets seemed to cover every inch of space they could.

"This is perfe—" she coughed before finishing her sentence, her lungs trying to empty the large amount of dust that had piled up in them. Caitlin turned around and shut the door enough that she could still see out, but only if she looked through a tiny crack. She had already heard a few people hurry by, not stopping to see what she was doing thankfully. Hearing some footsteps, she peeked outside to see Craig walking by, putting his headphones into his ears.

_Wow he's obsessed… _Caitlin sighed and shook her head. Even so, she wished she had her own right now to help calm her nerves. "Wait…did he have his bag?" she said aloud, noting that Craig had walked by with more than just a backpack. "Crap!" she cursed her luck and kicked at the wall. Her foot hit the wall wrong and her toes got crushed by the impact. Hopping around on one foot and swearing, she froze as the door behind her opened up.

"I could pick your voice out of anywhere, especially when you're screaming and carrying on like that," David chuckled nervously as he shut the door behind him.

"You ass," Caitlin said as she walked over to him. "I really don't think this is the time for jokes," Caitlin pressed herself up against him as she got near him.

"I know…" David wrapped his arms around the girl and kissed the top of her head. "I told Mindy, John, and Joel to come find us. We need to stick together. If some of our friends do buy into Ben's rules…I just don't understand this!" David tightened his fists and his grip on Caitlin as he spoke. Caitlin grimaced a little bit and David looked at her apologetically.

"I don't know…" she sighed and looked up at him. "What are we going to do?"

"Wait for the others. I don't want to do anything without them. I'd rather not run into that guy in black…" David shuddered as Ben's warning played again in his mind.

"David!!!" David jerked his head towards the door as someone began loudly calling his name.

"Who the he—"

"David!" the voice called again. Rushing to the door, Caitlin and David peeked out to see Hannuh wandering up the hallway slowly.

"Hannuh!" David and Caitlin whispered loudly to get her attention. The girl turned her head and saw the two. Smiling, she ran up to them and slid inside the room. "What the hell were you thinking?!" David asked, frustrated. Caitlin continued looking out the door, keeping an eye open in case someone was going to come, drawn by the noise.

"Joel told me to find you…and I couldn't think of any other way to do that!" Looking down at the ground, Hannuh appeared downcast at David reprimanding her. Caitlin saw Jen, digging through her backpack, walk by in a hurry as the two talked.

"Look, that's fine, but you need to be more careful! You saw what happened to Jun didn't you?" Hannuh continued to look at the ground as David spoke. Frustrated, David threw his hands into the air as he let out a deep breath.

"Joel, over here!" Caitlin called, ignoring the two behind her. Outside, Joel looked around for the source of the noise, spotting Caitlin waving at him from the doorway. Jogging over to the room, he slipped inside and dropped his bag onto the floor, setting a chair right-side up and collapsing into it.

"What, you not see me?" Caitlin jumped at the voice and spun around to see John slipping inside. He threw his bags down next to Joel's as he patted Caitlin on the shoulder.

"Don't do that!" Caitlin chuckled dryly, forgetting for the moment the situation they were in.

"Look, just be more careful. I don't want anything to happen to any of us." Hannuh nodded solemnly as David finished speaking. David smiled weakly, noticing John as he finished. He moved around Hannuh toward John, while Hannuh moved towards Joel and grabbed a seat on the floor, grumbling to herself.

"Glad you found us John," David and John clasped hands before continuing.

"Same. I've got a bad feeling about all of this…I still can't believe that B—"

"Don't say it," Caitlin said bluntly, jumping into the conversation. "I can't even think of it as him…How could he have done this to us all? Something has to be up…" John and David looked at one another then back at Caitlin. Neither of them wanted to admit it either, but they knew Ben well enough by now to know he was more than capable of this. Though it was the worst thing he'd ever done, it was Ben's choice, and this was real.

"Well, then let's not talk about him," David grabbed a hold of Caitlin's hand. "We're still waiting on Mindy, so what should we do in the meantime?"

"I'll watch for her," Caitlin volunteered.

"Alright…that works…" David was uneasy leaving Caitlin in such an exposed position, but saying otherwise would only get her angry.

"Why don't we check out what weapons we all got?" Joel spoke up for the first time since entering the room, a solemn look of disbelief still dominating his features.

"Agreed," John grabbed for his bag and opened it. David grabbed his and Caitlin's as the other three began to dig through theirs. John was the first to emerge with his weapon. It was a large black club about the length of a human arm. The handle was thin, with a large, thick surface at the top. It was heavy, but not so much so that he couldn't swing it freely.

Joel was the next to emerge with a weapon, pulling a large butcher's knife from his bag. The handle was white and had finger grooves that were slightly too big for the seventeen year old. The blade was roughly twelve inches long, and curved to a point opposite the handle. It shined in the dim lighting and looked new enough to slice through anything soft easily.

Hannuh was next, coming up with a pocket-sized black tazer. It was rectangular in shape with smooth edges and a black button the size of an average human thumb, slightly bigger than Hannuh's. Two prongs, resembling pincers, stuck out from one side of the object. Hannuh jumped as she pressed the button and electricity shot between the two metal prongs, a loud snap issuing forth as the stream started then ended.

David pulled out Caitlin's weapon first, producing an average sized pair of binoculars. They were heavy, thick black metal encasing the glass. Putting them up to his eyes, his finger grazed across a button on the top of the object. His world was suddenly green, certain parts of the room leaping out over others.

"Cool, night vision…" David pulled the binoculars away and smiled weakly, then set them back into Caitlin's bag. Digging through his own, David emerged with a black 9mm pistol.

"Woah…" John muttered as David analyzed his new weapon.

"You would get the best weapon," David looked up to see Mindy walking towards the group after having slipped into the room, Caitlin shutting the door and following suit. The two girls sat down next to the rest of the group, picking spots in between John and David.

"What'd you get Mindy?" Hannuh clutched her weapon defensively as she spoke. Mindy dropped her bags and began shuffling through her backpack, then began to chuckle. She pulled out a long worn-out rope and tossed it down into the middle of the group.

"Mindy, in the prison, with the rope," she sighed and shook her head. John grabbed the rope and began to work on one end of it, tying a few knots at different points. "What're you doing?" John didn't respond to Mindy, instead holding up the end of the rope to reveal what he had been working on, a noose. He looked at Mindy through the ring and smiled weakly.

"Anyone want the easy way out?"

Section 5 – Conflict – Craig vs. Haley

_I gotta find somewhere to hide…anyone can find me out here in the open like this… _Craig moved at a brisk pace as he scanned the area around him. He'd seen Chase wander off one way, and fearing what might happen if he were to run into anybody, he went the opposite direction. His mind was focused on one goal: staying alive.

Slipping his earphones on, he powered up his Zen as he walked, noting a slight pain whenever his backpack would bump up against him. It felt like something sharp was hitting him in the small of the back. As his Mp3 player started playing _Modern Myth_ by 30 Seconds to Mars, he slipped the machine into his pocket and pulled his backpack free from his shoulders, stopping and leaning against the wall as he did so. Opening the backpack, he reached in and found his fingers graze against something wooden. Grabbing the object, he pulled it out slowly, his eyes widening as the blade of the hand axe cleared the top of the bag. The weapon was lightweight, with a brand new blade that was plain silver. The wood itself was light colored and had the typical markings of wooden objects running up the side in darker colors.

_Wow…this is real…_ Craig swung the weapon around, testing the weight as he watched the light reflect off of the pristine metal surface.

"C…Craig?" Craig spun around in place to see who had called out his name, his Mp3 player changing songs to _What's up People_ by Maximum the Hormone.

Haley stood clutching an Uzi in her right hand, shaking nervously as she stood looking at the older boy. Craig didn't respond right away, clutching his axe tightly as he eyed the weapon in the girl's hand.

_That would be so much more useful than this bloody axe…_

"Craig I…I can't find anyone. Would it be ok if I stayed with you until we find Jen and Lanna?" she looked at him with fearful yet pleading eyes.

"Gimme the Uzi and sure. I'll even give you my axe so you still have a weapon," Craig looked down at the ground, then locked eyes with the girl, a fierce determination burning behind his pupils. Haley shook viciously, then clutched the weapon close to her chest.

"I think I'll just hang on to it. I'll just be going then…" she started to back away slowly, her eyes not leaving the other boy.

"No, wait! Haley, c'mon, I'd be better with it then you anyway, and I can protect you. It'll work, just trust me!" Craig took a few steps towards Haley, intent on not letting the girl get away.

"Leave me alone!" Haley screamed. The scream reverberated off the walls and tore through Craig's mind as he grimaced at the sound. Haley quickly pointed the gun at Craig as a tear began to roll down one cheek. "I just want to go, just let me walk away Craig."

"Don't point that thing at me," Craig said bluntly as he drew closer to the girl. "It'll be better for us both, I promise."

"I said stop!" Haley screamed again as she pulled the trigger on her weapon, a burst of bullets flying out towards Craig. Most of the ammunition didn't find their target, but one brushed the edge of the boy's cheek. Recoiling in shock, Craig grabbed at his face as blood started to pour from the open wound. His eyes flared with anger as he looked at the girl. She lowered the weapon for a second, but immediately brought it back up, holding it steady once more.

"I'm sorry, Craig, I—" her apology was cut short as an axe lodged itself at an angle between Haley's eyes. The Uzi fell from her hand, clanking on the tiled floor as she started to swagger forward, her eyes glazing over as tears began to pour over her cheeks. "I…it hurts…" collapsing on the ground, her breathing began to slow, finally stopping as a pool of blood began gathering around her forehead.

_Girl #12, Haley. Dead._

Craig still stood with his arm extended out from his body from having thrown the weapon. It began to shake as _Chasing Cars_ by Snow Patrol started to play on his Mp3 player, his eyes resting on the now deceased girl's body.

"I didn't mean…I never wanted…" Craig fell to his knees as he looked at Haley's body. He reached out and closed her eyes as he wiped away a few tears. "I'm sorry…"

Craig reached over and grabbed the Uzi from off the floor, holding it tentatively in his hand. He reached for her backpack next, but stopped as he heard distant footsteps.

"Shit…" standing up swiftly, he grabbed his own bag and backpack and took off at a run, his heart racing as his thoughts remained with the corpse on the floor behind him.

Section 6 – Group – Cassie and Jolee

"Cassie!"

Cassie froze in place as she heard her name called. Her heart began racing as she gripped the tiny Kunai in her right hand tightly, cutting the edge of one of her fingers slightly as she misplaced it. The sound of rapid footsteps approaching reverberated through the hallway as she turned around slowly. She exhaled with a sigh of relief as she saw Jolee approaching her rapidly, but her grip on the small weapon did not change.

"How'd you find me?" Cassie blurted out, scrunching her eyes at the other girl who skidded to a stop a few feet away from her.

"I wanted to apologize for that," Jolee pointed at the top of Cassie's skull as she spoke. Cassie winced as she touched the fresh wound tenderly, sighing as she moved it away.

"Don't worry about it. Not like this is much compared to what we have to worry about now…" Cassie's voice trailed off as she saw Jolee eyeing the kunai in her hand. She quickly stuffed it into her pocket, sheepishly smiling at the other girl. "So, what weapon did they give you?" Cassie crossed her arms as she tried to change the subject.

"I'm not sure really. I was so focused on finding you I didn't even bother to check," Jolee looked at the ground as she spoke, not wanting to meet Cassie's glare.

"Well, check. If we're going to work together, I'd rather know what you have at your disposal," Jolee smiled as Cassie spoke, glad to not be stuck by herself in the prison. Pulling off her backpack, she flipped open the top flap and began digging around until she until something metal brushed her hand. Grabbing a hold of it, she felt two different objects as she emerged with a pair of brass knuckles. They glinted in the dim light, apparently never having been used before. Jolee slipped the weapons on in awe, finding the fit to be slightly large, but comfortable enough that she could wield them.

"Guess in a way I got lucky," Jolee said as she stared at the metal knuckles she now wore.

"Lucky?" Cassie questioned, surprised at the girl's reaction.

"I already have been taking karate lessons, so this'll help me more than most of the other people here," Cassie's hand drifted back to her pocket, feeling the lump of the kunai in her pocket. She told herself it was all going to be all right as she turned around, facing the direction she had been going.

"C'mon, let's go find somewhere safe," Jolee nodded as Cassie motioned for her to follow her, heading off down the hallway once more.

Section 7 – Group – Jen, Chase, Lanna, Stephanie

Jen hurried along a corridor, panicking as she threw her head side to side in a desperate attempt to find Chase. She looked down angrily at her clenched hand as she cursed her luck.

_Of all the crappy weapons to get… _She swore again and began to scan the surrounding areas once more.

"Chase!" she called out as she moved along the hallway hurriedly. It felt like she had been running forever, but it had only been a few minutes. Her fear had begun to take root as she realized she was easy prey for anyone with even a passing whim to finish her off now.

Suddenly, she felt the collar of her shirt pull tight as a fist gripped the back of her shirt, and a hand found its way to her stomach. As the person pulled her back she let out a scream that was quickly silenced as the hand that had grabbed her shirt moved over her mouth.

"No!" She screamed through the hand as she opened her mouth wide and clamped her teeth down onto the person's hand, breaking the flesh and causing the person to let go.

"Ow! Damn it, that hurt, Jen!" Surprised at the voice, Jen spun around to see Chase sucking on his hand that now bled slowly from the wound Jen had just inflicted.

"Ch…Chase? I'm sorry! I didn't me—"

"Yeah, yeah, I freaked you out, we could all die, self-defense, just get back here! We need to stay hidden from the others. This room'll do for now, but I don't want to stay in one place for long. So let's figure out a plan, then move out." Jen nodded to the boy in agreement, then ducked inside, brushing past him as she made her way quickly over to a chair.

"So what're we gonna do?" Jen asked as she sat down. Chase sighed and turned around to face the girl, his face downcast.

"At this point, I don't really know. I'm just focused on keeping us alive. And maybe finding a bandage," Chase tried to joke, but it came across half-hearted and Jen could only offer a small weak smile in response.

"Sorry, but I don't have any. I never remember things like that," Chase nodded, then licked another bit of blood off of his hand.

"Well, for now let's move from here. I want to find somewhere a bit more secure and further away from the main group of people. I'd prefer it if no one found us at all." Chase grabbed his backpack and shuffled through it, emerging with a hand grenade that he clipped to his belt loop.

"You got a freaking grenade?! Jeez…that's so not fair!" Jen huffed after she emphasized the word so, crossing her arms and looking away. Chase sighed as he walked over near her and placed his clean hand on her shoulder.

"Well, what'd you get?" he asked, trying to keep the two of them calm.

"Look…" Jen opened her hand and showed him a long thin piece of white piano wire. "I almost didn't find the damn thing. At first I thought I didn't even get anything!" Chase suppressed a chuckle as he played with the string in his hand before handing it back to Jen.

"Might be better off. This way you got no temptation to try anything. C'mon, let's move out." Chase grabbed his bags as Jen nodded then followed suit. Jen stuck her head out the door first to see if the coast was clear.

"Jen!" A voice called to the girl as her head passed the threshold. Surprised, Jen looked around and spotted Lanna running towards her.

"Hey, Lanna!" The two girls embraced as Lanna ducked inside the room.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Do you think this is all real? Is Jun really dead? Did Ben rea—"

"Shh!" Chase put a finger to his mouth and his back up against the wall, looking out the small crack that was visible in the door.

"Why? Wh—" Jen covered Lanna's mouth and whispered for her to be quiet. Lanna nodded as footsteps began to be heard echoing in the hallway. Through the crack, Chase saw Meg walking along the hallway slowly, analyzing the hall as if she was looking for something.

"Damn…where is she?" Meg said aloud, pausing for a moment. Jen grimaced at the sound of Meg's voice and looked over at Lanna. Lanna shrugged and Jen nodded, the two communicating without saying a word. A few beads of sweat formed on Chase's forehead as he stared at the girl.

_Move on, move on, move on. _Chase thought, slowly taking in deep but quiet breathes. Meg finally sighed and started to move on, whispering to herself as she did.

"That was close…" Lanna said as Jen moved her hand off of her mouth. The other two nodded in response to her, Chase moving to a chair and plopping down in it.

"Ok, so, let's wait a bit for her to get further away from here, then we'll try and find somewhere safe to hide. You wanna come, Lanna?" Chase offered, secretly hoping she would say no. He wasn't sure who to trust at this point, even Jen herself was a stretch.

"Yeah, I'd rather not be alone…" she said slowly, her eyes falling on Jen. Jen smiled and nodded, then took Lanna's hand in hers.

"We'll get through this together." Jen tried to mask the nervous tone on her voice as she fought with herself to keep from shaking in fear.

"I think the coast should be clear by now," Chase attempted to get the girl's attention as he stood up and walked to the door. "Hey, Lanna, before we head out, what'djya get for a weapon?" Lanna looked at chase strangely for a moment, recognition sweeping across her face a few moments later.

"Oh! Right!" she opened her backpack up and pulled out an ornately decorated, medieval style shield. It looked like it had a family crest of some kind on the front, with ivy branches circling four white roses. Jen whistled in admiration at the craftsmanship of the shield.

"Nice," Chase cracked the door open more as he spoke. "To bad you can't fight to well with it, but keep it on you, you never know wh—"

"Jen!!!" An amplified voice ripped through the hallways that made the group cringe and cover their ears. "Jen!!!" the voice called again, just as loud as before.

"Oh my God, who the hell is that?!" Lanna yelled, still covering her ears.

"I think…I think it's Stephanie!" Jen answered, looking over at Chase. "She's going to get herself killed!" Chase knew all to well what Jen was implying. He shook his head vigorously as he spoke.

"If we go out there now, we might as well be committing suicide!" the boy said, glaring at Jen. "We should just stay away from her. There's no reason to be heroes!"

"Do what you want, but I have to try something!" Jen glared at Chase as she moved quickly past the boy and hurried in the direction of the voice. Lanna smiled at Chase as she hurried past him as well, leaving the boy alone in the room. He stood there, debating with himself for a moment, before making his decision.

"Damn it…" he cursed under his breath, then ripped the door open and ran after the two, trying to catch up.

Section 8 - Conflict - Clarence vs. Ally vs. Pat vs. Anora

"Why, why, why!!!" Tears streamed down Pat's face as she pounded her fist against the rough cement wall her head was resting on. The jagged outcroppings on the wall cut into her flesh, but Pat didn't even take notice. She felt numb all over, the shock shutting down any sense of feeling she could muster. All she felt and knew was that Jun was gone, and she believed she hadn't done enough to try and stop it.

"It's all my fault…" she whispered as she stopped hitting the wall, falling to her knees as she began to cry harder. She was a complete mess. Jun's blood was beginning to dry on her clothing and face, all save the spot where tears fell across her cheeks which kept the blood moist. Her hand bled softly from the wounds she had just created, and her hair was a mess from having being knocked unconscious on the bus in an awkward position.

Without thinking, she reached toward her backpack and opened it up, some sort of baser instinct taking over her movements. Feeling around inside, her hand grazed a wooden object that she wrapped her fingers around tightly. Pulling the object free from the bag, she realized she was holding the sheath to a Japanese katana. The scabbard was white and decorated with a cherry blossom design that ran up the side. The blood on her hand dripped onto the sheath as she reached her free hand toward the blade's handle.

She heard a soft click as the blade cleared its sheath. The metal shone in the light, and its surface reflected Pat's features back at her. Placing the scabbard down, she wiped away a few tears, only succeeding in rubbing the blood around on her face. Frustrated, she grabbed the sheath again and put the weapon back inside it, setting it back down on the ground next to her backpack.

Pat then reached for the backpack and found one of her bottles of water, pulling it free from the brown sack as she broke the seal of the lid and unscrewed it. She carefully poured a small amount on her face, then felt around for her own belongings. Unzipping the bag, she grabbed the first piece of cloth she could find. She began to wipe the blood and tears away, scrubbing at her face in an attempt to cleanse it.

Pulling the cloth away, she looked at the now blood-drenched whit shirt. She grimaced, and then flung it over her shoulder. Taking a few sips of the water, she put the cap back on and placed it back in her backpack.

_I should travel light. I need to be able to find Ben._ Pat nodded to herself and then grabbed two changes of clothes and put them down in her backpack along with a few other necessities. Pulling her hair back straight, she tied it into a tight ponytail, wanting to have it away from her face. With everything done, she put her backpack on her shoulders and grabbed the katana.

_It'll be red with Ben's blood before this nightmare is over._ Her mind set, Pat began to head off to search for the event's curator, but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a bloodcurdling scream from behind her.

"C…Clarence?" Pat muttered to herself, turning around quickly and running in the direction of the scream. She forced her tired legs to move faster as she moved along, frantically searching for the source of the noise. She grinded to a halt as a set of double doors in front of her flew open and Clarence stumbled out of the door, her face not visible to Pat. "Clarence, are you ok?!"

"Pat?! I can't see you! Where are you?!" The distraught girl turned around and Pat recoiled in horror. Four large nails stuck out of Clarence's face, two more logged in her chest. One of the nails had even found its way to her eye, the exploded pupil leaking down her face and over the other nails that were scattered about. "Pat, help me! Why can't I feel anything? I think something is on my face, but I can't feel it!" Clarence collapsed onto the floor, her hand outstretched toward her friend. A soft metallic ringing echoed throughout the hallway as a fork fell free from her right hand, bouncing around on the floor. The girl's remaining good eye glazed over as she let out the remaining oxygen in her lungs, breathing her last.

_Girl #9 Clarence, Dead_

Pat fell to her knees where she was and stared at her dead friend. "No…not again…" she clutched the katana in her hand tightly then ripped the blade free from the sheath, rising to her feet as tears streamed down her face once more. She screamed in rage as she ran through the doors Clarence had just come through, bursting through the portal and looking for Clarence's murderer. She didn't have to look hard as her eyes came to rest on the only person in the room: Ally.

Ally's eyes were wide open, both of her hands hanging at her side. A few spots of blood covered her clothing and face, staining the white shirt she was wearing. At her feet sat a nail gun, still on and humming softly. Her mouth hung open, moving slightly as she tried to force out words.

"I…I…I…" Ally continued trying to speak, not noticing Pat charging at her in a blind rage. She didn't even notice the katana glinting in the dim lighting until she found it through her chest, Pat's hands still gripping the handle. As Pat released her grip, Ally staggered backwards from the force, blood coming out of the corners of her mouth. The blade had passed completely through her, a small amount of the tip sticking out of her back.

Desperate, Ally grabbed at the handle and began tugging on the blade, grunting in pain with each pull. She managed to move it slowly, each tug causing more and more blood to spill out from the wounds in her chest and back. She started to stagger around, the amount of blood she was loosing finally beginning to catch up to her. With one final forceful pull, she yanked the weapon free and let it fall to the floor, clattering on the ground as some more blood flew out, splattering across Pat's face.

Ally looked down at the ground and saw her own weapon lying near the blade. Groaning, she tried to take a step forward towards the nail gun, but fell to the ground, a sickening smack ringing in Pat's ears. Ally's breathing became heavier as she started to drag her numb body towards the weapon slowly. Seeing the other girl's goal, Pat walked toward the gun and kicked it away, turning and stepping on Ally's outstretched hand, the girl screaming in pain again.

"I'm sorry pero para kay Clarence to," Ally's head finally dropped to the ground as her breathing slowed. Her eyes dilated as the tears started falling from her eyes. "Wherever you go, if you see Jun and Clarence, let them know I hope I see them soon," Ally seemed to sigh as the last of her breath pushed out of her lips, Pat walking away from the girl towards the weapons.

_Girl #2 Ally, Dead_

"Ally!" pat turned her head quickly to see Anora standing in the doorway staring at Ally's lifeless body. Pat froze for a moment as the realization of what had just occurred finally hit her. She knew that if she didn't leave now, Anora was going to come out of shock and then come after her. Thinking quickly, she ran towards the nail gun and grabbed it, sliding as she picked up the katana, Anora finally coming to. "Stop!" Anora screamed. Enraged, she began to move to chase after Pat, the end of her whip falling to the ground. Pat barely heard her as she ran through a different set of doors out of the room, one thought on her mind.

"_What have I done?"_

Section 9 – Group – Kari and Karina

Kari and Karina plodded through the hallways, moving along in silence. Neither of them had spoken since they'd left the room, each focused on their own private thoughts. Kari held a large blue switchblade in her right hand, eyeing her weapon as they moved along. She would occasionally flick her wrist, flipping the blade open, then shut it again, sighing and looking up towards the ceiling.

Karina had a small quiver with about five arrows strapped to her back, her back pack hanging loosely over the top of it. Over her shoulders a large bow also hung, the string brushing up against the bag with every step. She held on tightly to the bow, reassuring herself everything would be all right as they moved along.

"Ow," Kari yelped slightly after having pinched herself on the arm.

"What happened?" Karina asked, looking over at the younger girl.

"I was just hoping this was all a dream…" Kari stared at the ground as she stuffed the switchblade into her pocket, sniffing as she held back a few tears.

"Real or not, I'm not killing anyone," Karina turned her face back forward as they continued moving, her eyes searching for somewhere for them to hide. Kari nodded in agreement and smiled weakly.

"So, what're we gon—"

"Shh," Karina stuck her hand out in front of Kari, stopping the girl in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Kari whispered, looking intently at Karina.

"Someone's coming," Karina whispered back. Grabbing Kari's wrist, she pulled her toward a nearby open room, not closing the door all the way in an attempt to not draw attention to the noise. "Hide, quick!" The two girls saw an overturned desk that had a few file cabinets knocked over on top of it at weird angles, probably from some tremor or another over the many years the place had been vacant. They both headed straight for it, ducking into a tiny opening and crawling in as deep as they could while not knocking anything over. Once position, Karina motioned for Kari to be quiet, putting her arm on the younger girl's shoulder as the two waited in crouched positions.

The door to the room flung open as a large black boot sent it flying into the wall, the rusted hinges creaking from the abuse. The boy dressed in black they had been warned about walked into the room slowly, looking around as he did so. His hands were in his pockets as he made his way about the room, pausing occasionally and examining certain areas closer.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the boy said softly, a sadistic glee coming out through his words. Kari shook gently as Karina tightened her grip on the young girl's shoulder, trying to keep her quiet. Soukon began slowly moving towards the girl's hiding spot, Kari's eyes widening in fear as Karina moved her hand over Kari's mouth. He came to a stop in front of the girl's hiding place, bending down and reaching his hand through the small opening at the bottom of the desk. Kari reached for her switchblade, but Karina shook her head viciously to dissuade her from doing anything.

"There we go," Soukon said as he grabbed a hold of a rusted lead pipe, pulling it back across the threshold and swinging it through the air, a whistling noise coming from the pole.

Outside, hurried footsteps flew past the door, and a large crack was heard before the sound began to die away. The boy turned his head to the door and smiled. Swinging the lead pipe swiftly at the desk, the pole collided with the metal and the rusted end shattered, a loud ringing causing the girl's to cover their ears.

"That's my cue. Looks like you got lucky, whoever you are," Soukon turned and hurried out the door after the cause of the footsteps, a faint chuckling echoing in the room after he had gone.

Kari and Karina both let out a sigh of relief as they crawled out from the wreckage. Kari brushed a few pieces of metal from her hair as they stood straight up.

"Who do you think those people running around out there were?" Kari asked.

"I don't know, but let's pray they can get away from that maniac," Karina said solemnly as she looked over at Kari. The younger girl nodded as the two set out from the room once again.

Section 10 – Solo – Meg

"Damn…where is she?" Meg stopped moving for a second and tried to peer into the dusty doorways of the rooms that were near her. She sighed as she couldn't make out anything in the rooms and started to move on, hoping to find Amanda elsewhere.

_Why do I feel like I'm being watched? _Meg shivered as she headed out. Ducking into a small hallway, she looked back in the direction of where she had just come from. _I must just be getting jittery… _Sighing, she placed her back against the wall and slumped to the floor.

_This is crazy…How'd this all happen? _Leaning back, she grimaced as poked her in the small of her back. Sliding the backpack off, she sat it on her lap and opened the flap. The weapon wasn't hard to find, and she immediately pulled it free, then dropped it on the ground. The hard wood stick clanked on the ground, echoing in the small outcropping Meg now sat in. One end of the stick was sharpened to a point, and the rest of the stick was wrapped in a cloth to make it easier to hold.

"Looks like someone did some arts and crafts," Meg chuckled dryly as she slid her backpack on again. Grabbing the weapon, she stood back up and brushed herself off to remove the thick layer of dirt that was now on her backside.

"Jen!!!"

"What the hell?!" Meg spun around in place and looked back down the hallway she had just come from toward the sound of the amplified voice. "Who the hell would be that stupid?"

"Suddenly, one of the doors to a room in the hallway burst open and Jen came storming out, running off in the direction of the sound. Lanna emerged a few moments later, following after the first girl.

_Those asses, they were watching me! _Meg swore under her breath as she stepped out into the hallway. Chase came from the room next, looking down the hallway in the direction of the noise. _He's not that stupid…is he?_

"Don't be a hero, Chase!" Meg yelled at the boy. Shocked, Chase looked at her in surprise. He sighed and then nodded, turning and running off in the direction of the voice that was still calling out Jen's name.

"Dumbasses…" Meg muttered. Then turned around and walked in the other direction, ignoring the voice and continuing her search for Amanda.

Section 11 – Solo – Nick

"Gah, I don't think I'm going to find anyone at this rate…" Nick sighed as he walked along, spinning a pair of black nunchucks in his right hand. "You'd think that in a life and death game there'd be a little more…excitement…" Nick stopped speaking as his eyes fell on a crumpled body on the floor. Rushing forward, he slid on his knees slightly as he dropped down beside the body.

"Clarence…not you too," Nick held his stomach as he fully took in the deformed face of the young girl. His head began to spin from nausea as he turned away and stood up. Taking a deep breath, he stared up at the ceiling as he tried to not lose the contents of his stomach.

_Ok, what do I do now? _Nick stood silently for a few moments before a thought struck him. _The person who did this could still be around here! _Panicking, Nick looked around rapidly, spying a double door not far from him. Heading towards it rapidly, he burst through the doors, stopping dead in his tracks as his eyes fell onto Ally's body.

_No…_ Nick fell to his knees again and slammed his fist against the cold ground, swearing to himself as he stared at the floor.

"What do I do now?!" Nick screamed before bringing his eyes up to look at Ally's body. "There has to be something I can do…anything, something I can do to keep more people from dying…"

Standing up, Nick eyed Ally's backpack and realized that she probably hadn't eaten any of her food or drank any of her water yet. Pushing aside a thought that he was grave robbing, he moved to the bag and opened it up. Pulling out her water and rations, he stuffed them into his own backpack, trying to arrange it in a way that fit comfortably. Remembering Clarence's body, he walked back out and found it still attached to her arms. Holding his breath as he plucked the bag off the corpse, he recoiled quickly and turned away.

Successfully stuffing Clarence's supplies in his own bag, he tossed the now empty backpack to the side. Sliding his own back on, he looked at his duffel bag and decided to leave it behind. Starting off down the hallway, he clutched his nunchucks tightly as he ran his fingers across a black choker around his neck.

_I have to make it out of here…at least I have to try._

_  
_Section 12 – Solo – Ryan

"That's another one that's stopped moving…" Ryan swore aloud as he stared at the tiny screen on a palm-sized device. It beeped softly, small dots on the screen flickering in unison with the noise. Most of the dots moved either in small quarters or across long distances, apparently still looking for somewhere to hide. He looked at three dots in particular, all three having stopped moving, and not being active for long enough for him to assume the worst.

Hopping down off of the black metal barrel he had been sitting on, Ryan slipped the device into his pocket and dusted himself off. He had decided he was going to find out who was deceased, and hopefully run into Anora on the way.

_I just hope she isn't one of the three that are dead…God help whoever did it if she is._

Grabbing the device again, he checked the hallway in front of him before stepping outside, noticing that the coast was clear. He noted that it was odd that there was a group of three people that were all running through the hallways, apparently chasing one another. He also saw two people come to a stop and stop moving for a bit.

_Don't die…there's been enough of that._

_  
_Section 13 – Group – Zach and Mike

Mike trudged along slowly, running his fingers along the side of the rough wall as he made his way down a never-ending series of hallways, making him think of a massive labyrinth. He had no clue what time it was, but he continued moving forward, half-asleep but still lucid enough to hear footsteps a few hundred feet behind him.

_Keep calm, not like you can do much anyway. _Mike sighed as he stared at the ripe yellow banana clutched in his left hand. He paused in his walk and pulled off his backpack, tossing the banana back inside.

"Mike, that you?" Mike was surprised to recognize the voice immediately. He'd expected to have to see a face before he remembered who the person was. Wheeling around, he smiled in relief.

"Zach, thank God." Zach beamed as he approached Mike. The older boy's eyes widened as he stared at the weapon in Zach's hand. It was a full-length shotgun, black in color, and appeared to need to be pumped. "Is…that?"

"That it is," Zach said, holding the weapon out in front of them. He smiled awkwardly at Mike, unsure of what to do next. The two boys exchanged glances until Mike reached out and touched the weapon.

"Well, at least we should be safe with this. I mean, who's gonna come after the guys with the shotgun?" Mike ran his hand along the barrel, grabbing a hold of the part that was used to pump the weapon.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The shotgun is always the best weapon," Zach chuckled nervously, then tried to pull the weapon back towards himself. "M…Mike? You can let go of the gun now," Zach was yanking at the weapon, trying to pry it free from Mike's grip. Mike stood stoic as he continued to stare at the weapon. Moving again, he began to tug back on the weapon.

"Lemme use it, Zach. I've got faster reflexes than you. Plus I'm bigger, so I'll scare more people," Mike tried to reason with Zach as he tugged more and more forcefully. He grabbed down near the trigger of the weapon as Zach grabbed at the top, both trying to get the weapon away from the other.

"It's mine Mike! I'm the one who got the weapon, so I should get to keep it!" Furious, Zach released his hold on the bottom of the weapon, sending his free hand as a fist to the right side of Mike's face. The blow caught Mike off guard and let loose his adrenaline. Losing control of his body, Mike smacked Zach the top of the gun into Zach's face, causing him to recoil in pain, grabbing at his now broken nose. In one swift motion, Mike brought the gun into a firing position and pulled the trigger, realizing to late what was happening.

Zach looked at Mike in surprise as blood began to flow from the massive wound in his chest. He touched his hand to the wound, not even wincing as he pressed it against it, his body having gone into shock from the pain. Pulling the hand away, he looked at his blood-soaked palm. Raising his eyes to meet Mike's, he gave him a betrayed look as he crumpled onto the ground, his eyes glazing over as the pool of blood around him continued to grow.

_Boy number 30, Zach. Dead_

Mike stared at the body for a moment before turning away. He continued his walk down the hallway he'd already been moving through, his mind a complete blank.

_25 members remaining._


	5. Chapter 4: Tension PSI

Section 1 – Conflict – Anora vs. Pat

The sound of a whip cracking behind her was all the incentive that Pat needed to keep her legs pumping as she ran blindly through the hallways, Anora right on her heels. Pat wasn't sure how long she'd been running, only that it felt as though it was the only thing she had ever done. Her lungs felt aflame and her legs seemed by jello, but the open wounds across her back and legs kept her moving forward, afraid of what would happen if she stopped.

Anora was covered with a few cuts as well, still not having mastered how to use her weapon yet. Tears had dried on her cheeks and her face was twisted in a mixture of rage and sadness. Each step seemed to only further her resolve to make Pat suffer for what she had done to her sister.

"Stop!" Anora screamed, her voice cracking.

_Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do…_ Pat thought to herself as she rounded a corner and barely stayed on her feet, slipping slightly. Anora followed closely behind her, another crack from her whip catching Pat across her thigh. Pat winced and cursed as she kept moving, running through a set of double doors.

Pat almost tripped over a metal cart that was lying on its side as she found herself in a massive kitchen. Leaping into the air, she cleared the cart, scrambling to stay up as she collided with the ground. As Anora exploded through the doors behind her, Pat knocked a collection of rusting pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils down on the ground behind her, hoping to slow the girl that was chasing her down.

Anora cleared the cart with ease as she jumped into the air, but landed on a spoon with her right foot, her ankle rolling underneath her weight as she smashed hard into a cabinet. She moaned as she tried to force herself up but her now twisted ankle buckled, unable to support her weight and she fell onto a set of rusty butcher's knives, one of the blades sticking into her calf.

Pat stopped as she heard Anora scream in pain, turning around to see what had happened. The older girl was touching the knife gingerly as she tried to force herself to get back to her feet. She managed to rise to her knees and placed one of her hands on a counter top, the other grasping the handle of the knife tightly. Gritting her teeth, she yanked on the knife, pulling it free with one fluid motion, blood pouring freely from the wound.

"Anora, are you—"

"I don't need your fucking sympathy!" Anora screamed as she stood tenderly on her legs once more, wobbling at first from the pain the righting herself, ignoring the blood that ran down her shin.

"Anora, I'm sorry, I—"

"Sorry won't bring Ally back!" Tears were falling down Anora's eyes once more, her eyes seemingly red with rage. She tightened her fist around her whip and then gave it a solid crack, a large gash appearing across Pat's cheek. Recoiling in pain, Pat turned and began to run again, heading towards the first door she could see, Anora limping after her.

Yanking the large door open, Pat stumbled inside only to stop immediately as her hands flew up to cover her nostrils. The stench of rotting meat and maggots greeted her nose as she looked around the room. Large pieces of ancient meat hung precariously from large metal hooks, flies buzzing about them. On the floor, boxes of molded cheese and other frozen goods littered the edges of the room, all manner of cockroaches and other insects running in and out of them.

"What is this place?" Pat said as she began to back up slowly. After a few steps she bumped into something soft.

"It's called a freezer, and apparently it's been off for awhile," Pat spun in place to see Anora blocking off the way she had come in, her whip hanging at her side. As Pat looked at the girl, her eyes widened with fear as she slowly backed away from Anora. "Why are you so scared, Pat? Isn't it only fair you die after you killed someone else?"

"Ally killed Clarence first!" Pat screamed, her eyes beginning to fill with tears as her voice echoed with shrill terror. "I…I didn't know what to do! First Jun, then Clarence…I just snapped!"

"Liar!" Anora spat back at her, the whip in her hand rising then falling across Pat's chest, a large gash tearing away skin and shirt alike. "Ally wouldn't have killed anyone! You killed them both, didn't you? I knew I never trusted you, you filthy kid. It's only fair that you die!"

"No!" Pat screamed as Anora raised her whip again, but it never fell. Before she could ever deal her blow, a large metal claw tore a whole straight through Anora's chest, a chunk of her left lung hanging of the end of it. Anora stared down in surprise at the crude item that jutted from her, the pain not registering as her breathing tried to pick up. She loosened her grip on the whip as it fell to the ground, grabbing at the metal.

"So noisy," a voice said from behind Anora. Soukon stepped out from behind the girl so that both she and Pat could see him, their eyes alight with terror. He smiled in satisfaction as he looked into his victim's eyes. Chuckling, he brought the metal pole he was holding up in a horizontal attack, smacking Anora across the face and snapping her neck. The girl gurgled as her eyes glazed over, her life leaving her eyes.

_Girl #4 Anora, Dead._

Turning in place, Soukon stared at Pat, the only other living member in the room.

"Boo," he said, putting his hands in front of himself as though he was playing with an infant. Pat yelped and charged past him, out the door and back into the prison's hallways.

Soukon chuckled to himself again as he threw the pole over his shoulder and walked out of the meat locker, whistling a tune. He shut the door behind him as he exited, Anora's lifeless body moving slightly from the wind.

Section 2 – Conflict – Cassie/Jolee vs. Kari/Karina

"So do you have any idea where we're going?" Jolee asked Cassie again. Cassie gritted her teeth and breathed deep before letting the air seep back out her teeth and slouching over.

"Look, Jolee. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. No, I don't have any clue where we're going. At this point I just want to find somewhere secluded and try and plan something out."

"Oh," Jolee said, looking down at her feet as they continued walking along. "Well, it is really early in the morning, do you think we could stop somewhere and get some sleep? If we keep going like this, we'll pass out from exhaustion before to long.

"Now that," Cassie said as she stopped in place and turned around, smiling at the other girl, "is a plan I can get behind. Let's just barricade ourselves in one of these offices for now. I haven't really seen anywhere that looked safer yet anyways," Jolee nodded and returned the smile, the tense atmosphere between the two relaxing as they found something to agree on.

"Let's try that one," Jolee made her way past Cassie as she spoke, walking up towards a door and twisting the handle. She opened her mouth to say something as she pushed on the wooden door, but instead yelped as an arrow buried itself in the frame next to her head.

"The next one won't miss," Jolee stared into the eyes of Karina, paranoia and anger dominating the girl's features. Next to her, Kari stood with her switchblade drawn, her hand trembling in anticipation of what it might have to do. Jolee stood in the door, her mouth still hanging open, as she found herself unable to move. Seeing her fear, Cassie acted on instinct and grabbed a kunai out of her pocket, putting herself between the two opposing sides.

"Get your knuckles on, this might end bad," Cassie whispered as she drew her hand back in a throwing position. Karina moved her aim from Jolee to Cassie as Kari inched forward. "The second you let that arrow go, you're going to have a kunai sticking out from in between your eyes, and there is no way Kari can beat Jolee in a close range fight," As if to hammer the point home, Jolee smashed her brass knuckles together, her eye on the now apprehensive girl with the switchblade.

"You're bluffing," Karina said, less sure of herself than she needed to be to support such a statement.

"Am I? Or better yet, can you risk that chance?" Karina faltered slightly, lowering her weapon half an inch and glaring at Kari, then looked at Cassie again, her face appearing determined.

"Please, just walk away right now guys, and no one has to kill anyone…" Kari pleaded, lowering her blade. Jolee relaxed a little as well, but Karina and Cassie kept their eyes locked.

"If we let them walk away now, they could just try and kill us later," Karina said, pulling her bowstring tighter. "We can't risk that—"

Before Karina finished her statement, the sound of gunfire reached their ears, scaring Karina and causing her to loose her arrow. The shot's trajectory had changed with Karina's fright, and instead of implanting itself in Cassie's chest, it grazed across her arm, opening a finger nail sized wound across her bicep.

"Run for it!" Jolee yelled, grabbing Cassie's good arm before she could object and dragging her along behind her. Cassie yelled in protest, but the other girl was stronger and Cassie eventually just gave in, matching pace with Jolee as they fled.

Karina let out the breath she had been holding in as her bow fell from her hands, rotating then looking at her palms. They began to tremble slightly as the corners of her eyes started to get damp.

"I almost…I could have…"

"Don't cry, Karina," Kari placed her hand over Karina's trembling palms, pulling them together. "You didn't want anything to happen, and nothing did. Let's keep moving. We gotta find a new place to hide."

"Ye…yeah," Karina said, tightening her hands into fists. "We have to try and survive."

As the two girls walked out the door, Karina grabbed the two arrows she had fired, inspecting them to see if they were still useable. Satisfied, she put them back in her quiver as the two girls ran off in the opposite direction of Cassie and Jolee.

Further down the hallway, Cassie slid to a stop and leaned up against the wall, Jolee skidding to a halt and turning around to look at her.

"Are you ok?" Jolee questioned as she pressed her hand gently to Cassie's wound. The other girl grimaced, but didn't move.

"Yeah, let's just get this bandaged up," As she spoke, she started tearing off the bottom of the sleeve that Karina had destroyed, and motioned for Jolee to finish it. She did so, and used the cloth as a makeshift tourniquet, pulling it tight to stem the bleeding.

"Ya know, I'm not so tired anymore," Jolee said, chuckling lightly.

"Me either," Cassie smiled back at the girl weakly.

"Care to keep looking for a good hiding place?"

"Let's," Cassie responded, the two girls setting out once more.

Section 3 – Solo – Craig

Craig stumbled through the hallways of the prison in an awkward manner, his body completely exhausted but unable to rest. Anytime he closed his eyes, the image of Haley with an axe in her forehead came to his mind and he could see her eyes staring at him accusingly.

"Everyone knows by now…how could they not? They're probably all out looking for me, crying for my head," Craig pictured a mob of weapon-toting children chasing him, yelling murderer the entire time.

"I didn't mean to, I really didn't! It was all Haley's fault anyways! She shot me, she tried to kill **me**!" For some reason, the words brought courage to Craig, almost as though he was justified in his actions, but the feeling was washed away as quickly as it had come as he closed his eyes and was greeted with Haley's corpse once more.

"Leave me alone!" Craig screamed into the darkness, falling to his knees. He put both of his hands on the ground as he stared at the floor, the Uzi clutched tight in his right fist. A few beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, over his nose, and down onto the floor. He balled up his left hand into a fist as he raised it into the air, bringing it crashing down onto the ground a few moments later.

Craig was about to hit the ground again when he thought he heard something creak a few feet away from where he was kneeling. He froze in horror as the thought of the group chasing after him played in his head once more.

_No…I can't die here…I want to live…I want to live!_ Craig yelled at the shadows as he stood up quickly and turned towards the direction he thought he'd heard the noise come from. He pulled the trigger tightly on his weapon as a quick burst shot from the gun's barrel, illuminating the area and revealing nothing. Craig stood panting as he stared at the dark corridor and waited for what seemed hours, still expecting a corpse to fall from the area.

_I…I'm really losing it. _Turning away from the empty hall, Craig began to run, his legs carrying him as swiftly as they could to an unknown destination.

Section 4 – Solo – Meg

Meg had finally collapsed to the ground from sheer exhaustion and sat in a room cut off from the hallway. Her eyes were hanging heavy as she tried to fight off sleep as best she could, failing miserably. She lifted her digital watch up and stared at the soft neon glow that read 5:15.

"Damn it, that gas didn't get me any rest at all. I feel like I've been up since yesterday…I hope no one finds me, cause I just can—"

"Leave me alone!"

The sound of someone screaming and stumbling through the hallways outside brought Meg back to the situation she was in, her sense kicking back up as she clutched her pointed stick tightly. She leaned up closer to the wall she had been resting on and inched her way over to the door, opening it slightly so she could look outside.

_Is that Craig? _Before she could ponder the question further, Craig stood up and aimed a gun in her general direction, screaming as he pulled the trigger, bullets whizzing by her and imbedding themselves into the wall on the other side of the hallway. Meg jumped backwards and curled up into a tight ball, her ears ringing from the noise.

She say their frozen for a short time before she finally heard footsteps running off in the opposite direction. As she did, her mind finally snapped from stress and exhaustion, causing her to black out in an uncomfortable position.

Section 5 – Group – Ryan and Nick

Ryan's heart pounded in his throat as he stood with his back pressed against a wall, staring hard at the blinking dots on his screen as one slowly approached the dead end he had run into. He couldn't tell who it was yet, and he was certain the person didn't know he was there yet, but he was trapped all the same.

Two more people had stopped moving on the device, and Ryan was starting to worry he was going to be the next one. The game hadn't even been going for six hours yet, and already six people had apparently been killed, bringing the original thirty members down to twenty four.

_And soon to be twenty three…_ He thought again. Looking down at the device, he was suddenly struck with an idea. It was crazy for sure, and could get him killed faster, but it was all he could think of in the situation he was in. _Well, here goes something!_

"Don't move!" Ryan yelled as he leapt out of the shadows, holding his device like a pistol and covering the screen so that no light showed. He could barely make out the outline of another figure stopping not far from where he was.

"Put down your weapon and toss it towards me."

"How can I put it down and toss it to you, dumbass!" Ryan was caught off guard by the witty remark, but almost broke out laughing as he realized who it was.

"Nick? Is that you?"

"The one and only," Nick stepped closer to Ryan as he moved his hand off of the screen, illuminating the two figures in a low light. "Good to see you alive…least someone is…"

"What do you mean?" Ryan questioned, lowering his device.

"You aren't the first person I've run into," Nick paused for a moment, taking in a long breath. "Ally's dead. Clarence too," Ryan looked dumbstruck as Nick's words, as though he was playing some kind of sick joke.

"N…no! Not already! How'd it happen?!" Ryan rushed forward and grabbed Nick by the collar, shaking him, his face covered in rage.

"I don't know!" Nick said, knocking Ryan away from himself. "Fighting me isn't going to bring her back!" Ryan collapsed to the ground and looked at Nick's feet, a distraught glaze pervading his eyes. Nick reached down and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him up to eye level. "Neither is zonking out and going comatose on me. We can't do anything about those already gone, but we can do something about the one's still alive. We've got to beat the problem at its source."

"You mean go after Ben? Are you insane?!" Ryan looked frightened as the memory of Jun's collar exploding played in his head. "That's suicide!"

"So is this fucking game!" Nick shoved Ryan back, causing him to drop the device to the floor. I skidded back a few inches and stopped, the soft glow illuminating the bleak hallway. "What is that thing? Your weapon?"

"I think it's called a SAT NAV. Regardless, it tells me where all of the players are, but not who they are. Also, I think if a collar detonates, the it doesn't show them anymore, cause there are only twenty nine dots, one missing for Jun," Nick picked the device up gingerly, having slipped by Ryan while he was giving his explanation. He stared at it for a few moments before looking up at Ryan.

"We could use this to get everyone's support and then go after Ben!" Nick said with a triumphant sound in his voice.

"Nick, what if he's listening to us right now? We got no way of knowing!"

"Then let's stop talking. C'mon Ryan. You in or out?" Ryan stared at him for a good long time before finally cracking a nervous smile.

"Not like I got much of a choice in the matter."

"Then that settles it," Nick turned and started to walk off, catching Ryan off-guard. "First thing we do is find somewhere to sleep." Ryan nodded as he started walking alongside Nick, wondering if Anora had suffered the same fate as her sister.

Section 6 – Conflict – Stephanie vs. Soukon

"Jen!" Stephanie stood on a ladder connecting the second tier of the jail cells as she yelled into her loudspeaker, frantic as she hoped her friend would hear her. Her voice was starting to get hoarse from screaming so long, and she knew she couldn't keep this up forever.

"Damn it, Jen! Hurry u—" before she finished her sentence, a large force from another body smashed into her, causing the two people to fall to the ground. Stephanie's head smacked against the steel bridge as she fell, and stars exploded out in front of her eyes as she opened them.

"…phanie?" Looking around, Stephanie saw a gray figure on top of her, and as her eyes started to focus again, she began to smile.

"Je—" before she uttered the rest of the word, Jen had put her hand over Stephanie's mouth, a finger rising over her own to keep Stephanie quiet.

"Are you insane?" Jen hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you have any idea what you did?"

"Got you here to help me?" Stephanie replied, trying to shove Jen off the top of her.

"Are you **trying **to get yourself killed? What if someone besides me had—"

"Guys, we got company," Stephanie and Jen yanked their heads in the direction of the voice, Stephanie spotting Chase and Lanna for the first time. Chase was frozen in fear and Lanna was backing up towards Jen and Stephanie slowly. Both their heads were focused on a single figure who stood in the doorway they had just passed through.

Soukon stood staring at the group with a sadistic smile on his face. He was holding a long broken pole in his hands, and occasionally he bounced it up then back down into his left hand menacingly.

"Well, hello there boys and girls! Or should I say boy? Looks like you got yourself a nice little orgy going on there," Soukon motioned towards the two girls that were on top of one another. Stephanie and Jen scrambled to their feet in response, Chase staring angrily at Soukon.

"What do you want?" As he spoke, he slid a grenade out of his pocket so that Soukon could see. "You got 'til three to back away from here."

"Tough words, but can you do it?"" Soukon cocked his head to the side, then swung his pole to his right, smacking it against the railing and causing the entire bridge to shake. He started walking towards the group, a determined look on his face.

"Everyone, run, now!" Chase pulled the pin from his grenade as everyone in the group and Soukon stared at him wide-eyed. "I said run!"

Chase dropped his grenade to the ground as he turned around and started running towards the opposite end of the bridge, grabbing Stephanie and Jen's arms as Lanna followed closely behind him. Soukon stared at the grenade for a few seconds, then snapped out of his stupid and ran in the opposite direction.

Before either party cleared the bridge, the grenade exploded, blowing a large hole in the construct they were standing on. Chase cleared the bridge with Stephanie and Jen, but Lanna was still on it as the metal started to crumble beneath her feet. Leaping into the air, she screamed at Chase, causing the boy to spin around rapidly, grabbing her outstretched arms. As Lanna plummeted towards the earth, Stephanie and Jen grabbed onto Chase, steadying him so that he wouldn't fall when gravity yanked Lanna down. Chase's arms felt like they were going to be tugged out of the sockets as Lanna's full weight fell as far as it could, almost taking him with her.

"Pull!" Chase yelled as the three started yanking on Lanna. After a few moments, they managed to get her to a position where she helped herself up, scrambling onto solid ground. Breathing heavily and shaking, Lanna smiled up at the others.

While the three girls celebrated, Chase looked across the bridge, and through the smoke he saw another figuring staring back. Soukon's eyes showed pure malice. The boy was covered from head to in scars, his clothes torn up pretty badly.

"You're mine," He mouthed to Chase, and then turned around and walked out of the jail room the same way he had come from. Chase sighed in relief as he turned back to the girls, letting them have their victory, even though the voice inside his head was telling him it was far from over.

First Announcement – 6:00 AM Day 1

"Attention please, attention please!" Ben's cheery voice came over the crackling PA system of the prison, waking up a few people and catching everyone else's attention.

"Well good morning fellow forumers! I'm here to give you your first report of the nights events," Ben sat in an office chair, his feet up on an advanced control panel as he leaned back with the microphone in his hand. Around him, military personnel bustled to and fro completing various tasks. Above everything sat a giant monitor with a detailed map of the area, a green dot signifying each person in the game with that person's name next to their appropriate dot.

"First off, for those of you without watches, the time is currently 6:03 AM. I'll try to be more prompt with these from here on out, so my apologies," Ben chuckled sarcastically over the PA system, then continued on.

"Next up is the death list. You all have been fairly active for it being so damn early! If you're smart, you can figure out how each person dies, and what weapons are available. Pencils at the ready class!"

"First death, Jun, boy number 18. Blood loss from explosion at neck.

Second death, Haley, girl number 12. Severe puncture wound to face by axe.

Third death, Clarence, girl number 9. Several high velocity puncture wounds to face by nails.

Fourth death, Ally, girl number 2. Severe puncture wound through chest by blade.

Fifth death, Zack, boy number 30. Multiple sever bullet wounds to upper torso from discharged weapon.

Sixth death, Anora, Girl number 4. Sever puncture wound through back and chest by cleaver,

Ben paused for a few moments after completing his list, allowing the news to sink in. Ryan and Nick stopped walking at the mention of Anora's death. Mike turned his head slightly as he was walking, but otherwise continued along unphased. Pat paused and closed her eyes when Jun and Clarence's names were read off, glad to hear that a few others hadn't made the list. Craig looked down at the floor as he heard the name of his victim, and the implement of her demise. Others gave each other odd glares filled with mistrust, fear, and confusion.

"So hopefully those of you who are still alive got a good amount of rest. We wouldn't want anyone not waking up from their sleep," Ben chuckled again as he adjusted his position, his voice growing more serious. "And so you all know, I can hear everything you say, I can see wherever you go, and I have about ten guards inside this room alone. So don't think you can pull anything. I'm looking at you Nick. So how about everyone does me a little favor? The new danger zone is , Nick's area. Keep him there for me, will ya? Anyone in the danger zone has ten minutes to get out, so good luck everybody! Ben out."

Section 7 – Solo – Charles

Charles stared down at his map in horror as he realized exactly where he was. The new danger zone was where he was standing, and he was smack dab in the middle of it.

_That means I'm right by Nick... _As if right on cue, Charles heard footsteps running in his direction. Looking at his map again, he assumed he could get out of the area, but another thought occurred to him.

"Charles!" Someone screaming at him woke him from his daze. Turning around, he saw Nick and Ryan running up to him, waving their arms to get his attention. "Why the hell are you just standing there? We gotta move!" Ryan yelled again, grabbing Charles's shoulder as they went by.

Before he'd realized it had happened, Charles found himself running alongside Nick and Ryan, struggling to keep up with the two older boys. He was in between them both as they moved in a line, darting through the hallways with precision.

"Right!" Ryan yelled, starring at a strange device. Charles eyed it peculiarly, Nick noticing his stare.

"That would be how we found you," Nick said, smiling. "May not be good for fighting, but it might be the best damn weapon in this game," Nick chuckled aloud as Charles nidded in silent agreement. It probably was the best weapon, and he wanted it.

"Left, then straight on to safety!" Ryan said, Nick pumping his fist into the air.

"Then we're out to avenge Anora and Ally!" Nick replied, causing Ryan to crack a slight smile. As they rounded the turn, Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out his scissors, sliding them open as they drew nearer to safety. Their collars started beeping simultaneously and began blinking red.

"Sorry…" Charles mouthed, then gritted his teeth.

"I think we're gonna—" before Nick finished talking, Charles had stabbed downwards with his scissors into Nick's calf. Screaming in pain, Nick fell to the ground, tugging at the large weapon. Surprised, Ryan spun around to see what had happened, but his face was met by Charles's fist, knocking Ryan off balance as Charles grabbed at the SAT NAV and then shoved his shoulder into Ryan's stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Charles turned to run from the two and on to safety, but he was knocked to his feet as a blunt object smacked him across the back of the head. Stars exploded in front of Charles's eyes as he tried to catch himself as he fell, only succeeding on landing on his side rather than his face.

Nick stood above Charles, spinning his nun chucks as he stared down at him menacingly. He spat down on his face and then leaned down and up the SAT-NAV. Limping off towards the safe zone, Ryan following after him.

Enraged, Charles stood back up and ran towards the two, slightly stumbling from the blow Nick had landed on him. As he drew close, the beeping of the collars started to match that of his racing heart.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Charles screamed as he neared the two, reaching out to grab Ryan.

"Too bad," Ryan punched Charles in the face with his right hand, his left holding his bleeding nose. Charles fell back once more, smacking his head against the ground and laying there.

Nick and Ryan's collars stopped beeping as they passed over into the safe zone, turning to see as Charles's collar exploded, causing the young boy to twitch, but otherwise remain as he was, a pool of blood pouring out around his neck.

_Boy #7, Charles, dead._

As Ryan and Nick stared at the young Pilipino they both were filled with a mixture of emotions. After a few moments of silence, Ryan turned to Nick.

"You sure you still want to go through with this? We could end up like him," Nick nodded slowly, then turned to Ryan.

"I'm even more sure now. That wasn't Charles. That was a product of that asshole's game. I want to stop as many people as we can from ending up like that, or at least give everything I have to try," Ryan nodded in turn, then looked down at the pair of scissors still in Nick's leg.

"Want me to…"

"No, I got it," In one fluid motion, Nick ripped the scissors out of his leg, and dropped them to his side, letting them clatter to the ground as Nick fought to keep himself standing. He put his hands over the wound to try and staunch the bleeding, but it didn't seem to help. "Damnit…all…"

Nick tore his sleeve off of his shirt and wrapped it around the wound, gritting his teeth as he tightened it then watched it turn red.

"Hope that helps," Ryan said, offering his shoulder to Nick. Taking it, the two headed off in a safe direction to find somewhere to rest.

Section 8 – Conflict – Amanda vs. Alan

"Anyone in here?" Amanda pushed her way into a dark classroom, her field of vision shrinking as she moved her hand along the wall to try and find a light switch. Shuddering as her hand went through a thick cobweb, she finally found the object and flicked it on. One of the lights in the room flickered on, then back off, blinking on and off while another light in the room shot sparks from its broken ballast, seeming to have been destroyed some time ago. The other lights came on as well and cast the room in a low light, just barely illuminating it enough to see.

"Aaah!" Amanda screamed and flailed her arm around, knocking loose a spider that had climbed onto her palm while she had stared dumbfounded at the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor, its legs scrambling to turn itself over. Finally succeeding, it scurried up a nearby wall into the ceiling as Amanda caught her breath.

"Fruitin' spider…"she cursed under her breath as she turned around to survey the room. It looked like it had originally been a shop classroom of some kind, but it certainly wasn't much of anything now. The desks were upturned in random places, and rusting machines lay destroyed all over the room. A phone hung off the hook, dangling from side to side, no ring tone emanating from it. It almost seemed as if someone had taken itoff not to long ago.

"Eerie…" Amanda said aloud, moving deeper into the room, heading for one of the upturned desks. "This whole thing is just insane. I can't believe they expect us to kill each other!"

"But they do, so you'd best not move," Alan stood up from behind the desk Amanda had been walking towards. He was holding a pistol in both hands, and it was aimed right at Amanda's face.

"Alan?!" Amanda near shrieked, picking up her bat and holding t n both hands, positioning it like she was about to swing.

"Drop the bat, Amanda. Don't test me right now."

"Don't **test** you? You're the one with the gun! Stop pointing that damn thing at me and I'll put the bat away!"

"You aren't exactly in a position to argue," Alan moved his hands forward menacingly, scaring Amanda as best he could.

"I am too! You're pointing a fucking gun at my face!" Amanda stood firm and tightened her hold on her handle, her muscles tensing in anticipation.

"I'll count to three. If you don't drop the weapon, I'm going to shoot," Alan grunted after saying this, keeping the weapon focused on Amanda's face. "One."

"Alan, just put the gun down."

"Two."

"Alan!"

"Three!" As Alan said three, Amanda swung her bat, aiming at Alan's head as if she were trying to smash a watermelon. Alan pulled the trigger at the same time, but no sound issued forth, only a clear liquid that splashed against Amanda's face.

_Water? _Was the only thing Amanda thought in the split second before her bat smashed into Alan's head, a sickening crack and thud emanating from the younger boy as he went flying off of his feet, landing in a heap on the ground and not moving. Blood started seeping out of the large gash on the side of his face, pouring over his cheeks and his open mouth and chin.

_Boy #1, Alan. Dead._

"A…Alan?" Amanda asked quietly, wiping the water from her face. Looking down, she saw Alan's weapon and picked it up, pulling the trigger and watching a stream of water shoot up towards the ceiling. She half-chuckled, half-cried as she dropped the weapon to ground, the metal clattering as it did.

Holding out her bat as she approached him, Amanda poked Alan lightly in the side, getting no response from his body. Trying again, she pushed harder, her face shifting from fear to horror as she realized what had actually happened. She dropped the bat and backed away slowly, stumbling over a piece of machinery and falling onto her backside.

"Alan? Q…quit messing around. Get up. Get up!" Amanda screamed as she sat where she was, breathing rapidly. She closed her eyes as tears formed at the edges of them, trying to stop them from coming.

_No…I won't end up like that…_Standing up slowly, Amanda walked towards Alan, an idea forming in her head.

Section 9 – Conflict – David vs. Mike

David couldn't help but yawn, even as the rest of his group sat in stunned silence. Six people dead in less than six hours. It was a number that made one thing abundantly clear: this was no game. This was a slaughter.

The entire group had all decided to sleep after meeting up, finding as comfortable of spots as was possible in the dusty old reception room. Caitlin and David sat nestled in a corner, while the others were sprawled across the room, Joel not far from his brother. No one from the group had moved an inch since they had been awoken by Ben's first announcement. All the information was still sinking in, and everyone was trying to avoid one another's awkward glares.

"So…" John started, but he didn't seem to have the words to continue.

"What do we do now?" Mindy finished off John's comment, essentially voicing what was on everyone's mind.

"We could just stay here and wait the whole thing out," Hannuh voiced in a matter of fact tone.

"Even if we did hide here, what happens on the last day?" David kept his eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to see anyone's expression.

"Well, we could just fight each other now and get it over with," Joel gave a weak chuckle, eliciting an evil glare from David.

"Joel, that's not even funny," David continued glaring at Joel as the younger boy shrugged. After a few moments of silence, Caitlin pushed David in the side, making him jump a little. "Don't do that!"

"Anyways," Caitlin said, ignoring David's comment, "we need to think of something. I don't want to fight anyone, but I'd rather not just sit here and wait to die," Most nodded in agreement, and the room fell silent again.

"You think anyone else has died since Ben's report?" Joel asked, creating more awkward tension in the room. Seeing their reactions, Joel tried to sink back into the wall he was leaning against. "Nevermind…"

"No, it's a valid question," John said, sitting forward and putting his chin in his hand. "The less people there are, the less risk there is."

"Wouldn't that apply to us too?" David said as he jumped into the conversation. "And besides, my guess is it'll be the exact opposite. The less there are, the more dangerous it's going to be."

"David, that's just stupid," Joel said bluntly, turning towards his brother. "Why would less people be **more **dangerous? It's simple math."

"Maybe…but think about it. If there are less people, then the few who are still left are gonna think it more likely that they could win, and do crazier shit and risk more to not be one of the losers in the game."

"Yeah, but there is still less chance of running into people if there are less of 'em," Joel retorted, not wanting to lose the argument.

"I don't know, I see five other people we could run into right now," Everyone turned to Hannuh and looked at her in surprise. "Well, I mean, what if we're the last six, like David said? At what point do we stop trusting each other, and start thinking of ways to win? I mean, it's either one of us or none of us, right? And I can't imagine any of us wanting to willingly die for the other…" Things fell silent again, only this time, it was for a much longer period of time. Everyone was mulling over the words. David kept trying to catch Caitlin's eyes, but she seemed distant. The others were all doing the same, seemingly lost in thought.

"Damnit!" David swore, hitting his fist against the wall and then standing up, causing everyone to look at him. "I'm not going to just sit here and wait to die! I'm going to find Ben and find out why the hell he's doing this!"

"And how do you suppose we do that Mr. Get up and Go?" Caitlin looked up at David, her face completely stoic. David faltered a bit where he stood, then pulld back into himself and put his chin in his hand.

"I hadn't gotten that far yet."

"Do you ever?" Caitlin John and Mindy said in unison, Joel and Hannuh stifling laughter.

"Everyone's always so mean to me! David's shoulders slumped and he looked at the ground with a pitiful expression on his face. After a moment, he looked up and smiled, sticking his tongue out at Caitlin in particular. Everyone finally lost it and began to laugh, and David couldn't help but smile. It felt good to laugh again.

"I think David is right though," David gasped in surprise as Mindy spoke, but she ignored him, standing up and brushing herself off. "Sitting around here, we're going to die anyway. At least if we try and do something about this, it's only a chance of dieing, rather than a guarantee. Granted, it's a rather **big **chance, but at least it's a bit better."

"Well, I say we vote on it." John spoke up from where he was sitting. "We're a group, we need to make sure at least most of us want this after all. All for?" David and Mindy raised their hands almost immediately, followed soon after by Caitlin, Joel and then John himself. After a few moments, John spoke up again. "All opposed?" Hannuh raised he small little hand slowly, knowing what the outcome was irregardless. "Sorry Hannuh, but majority wins on this one." She nodded solemnly, looking down at the ground.

"Alright!" David said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get ready to move out!" 

"Right," Caitlin agreed as she dove for her bag.

After about ten minutes of preparation, everyone had their things ready and their bags packed. Everyone had stuffed what they could into their backpacks, and they had their weapons drawn, just in case. David stood near the door with his pistol out and shaking, everyone waiting on him to exit the room.

"So I'm the first one leaving the room again, why?" David asked nervously, staring at the doorknob.

"Maybe because you're the only one with a weapon that can hit people from a distance?" Mindy chimed in sarcastically, David sighing in response.

"Fine, fine, whatever," David grabbed ahold of the doorknob as he spoke, twisting it gently before pushing it open slowly.

The first thing to emerge was the gun's barrel, David looking through the crack of the door cautiously as he worked up the courage to step through the passageway and out into the open. Shoving the door open the rest of the way, David slid out into the hallway pointing his weapon first left, and then right. Seeing that the coast was clear, he motioned for the others to follow him as he headed left down the hallway.

_Marching order?_ David thought to himself as he looked back at the rest of the group. Caitlin was right behind him, holding his free hand tightly in her two, her pair of binoculars strapped around her neck. After her was Mindy, glancing around as she took in the whole area, her rope hanging around her belt strap, but out of the way. Behind Mindy, Hannuh stared at the ground, tazer held in her right hand, while John tried to think of something to say that would cheer her up, his club resting on his shoulder. Joel brought up the rear, constantly glancing behind himself, almost seeming to walk backwards with his with his knife drawn.

"So, any clue where we're headed? Caitlin whispered to David as the group crept along silently.

"No, not really. I was just going in the opposite direction of the danger zone. I don't want to be anywhere near that place."

"Seems like as good a plan as any," Caitlin responded, smiling meekly.

"Hey, can we speed it up a bit down there?" Joel said, his voice anxious.

"Joel, not so loud!" David hissed, turning on his brother. The group stopped as David did, Joel crossing his arms in defiance. The two stared at each other for a few moments before David threw his arms into the air and took off at a trot, the others speeding up to catch up with him. Frustrated, David started moving faster, breaking out into a run after a few moments. The others hurried along to catch him, but he managed to pull ahead slightly.

"David!" Caitlin yelled in horror as she saw Mike rounding the corner in front of them. David didn't hear her in time as he slammed into the taller boy, sending them both tumbling across the floor. The rest of the group watched the two come to a stop, Mike on top of David. The two groaned, but Mike recovered faster than David, and when David realized what was going on, he found himself on the receiving end of a shotgun barrel, pointed directly at his face.

"Shit!" David said as he pointed his own weapon at Mike's Forehead, holding it steady as the two stared one another down. "What the hell are you doing, Mike?!" Mike didn't respond and his face didn't change. Thinking he was safe, David tried to move out from under Mike, but Mike pressed the barrel up harder against his face.

"Don't move," Mike coaxed. David only saw it for a second, but a flicker of doubt flashed across Mike's eyes. After another few moments, realization struck David as he recalled Ben's announcement from earlier. His stoic look was replaced by one of terror as his grip on his gun loosened and the weapon began to shake.

"It was you…you kill—"

"One more word and you lose your head!" Mike screamed, pushing the gun hard up against David's face, reopening the wounds around his lips. The two stared at each other for another few moments until Mike was suddenly knocked clear from David, crumpling to the floor after he hit the wall. David looked up quickly to see Caitlin standing above him, breathing heavily as she clutched onto the string attached to her binoculars. A small gleam of crimson was on the side of the object as the two looked over at the now unconscious Mike.

"You know," She said panting, "couldn't let you go dying on me."

"Thanks babe."

"Don't mention it."

_22 members remaining._


End file.
